#the crows are red and black but that’s for a very special reason and very special contrast

[call-me-strega]

How to Become a Step-Dad in 5 Easy Steps: part 2 (chapter 1/?)

Here is part 1, lore

Edit: ao3 link now here

They do go to a library in this chapter so there are a lot of references to books in this chapter. I've read some but not all of them so I can say anything about their quality more than as things that I thought sounded interesting in theory. A lot of the stuff at the library was inspired by my own experiences with public libraries.

~~~

Step 2: Get to know them

Within the next 4 months Jason ran into Danny several more times. Each time becoming more and more enamored with the young man. It was hard not to when he saw how kind and hard-working he was.

~

The first time he ran into Danny after their first meeting he actually ran into Ellie first. Well, technically she ran into him but that's beside the point. But if you were gonna get technical about it he heard her little giggles before he saw her.

He had been at the library during some of his downtime to peruse some books and relax. The life of a vigilante crime lord isn't a very peaceful one, go figure. That's why Jason liked taking some time to himself every once in a while whether it was to have tea with Alfred, hang with one of his friends or siblings, or in this case visit Gotham Public Library.

Sure he could've gone to the Manor Library or gotten something online but the Manor was pretty far from the Alley and preferred having physical copies of his books rather than a computer or tablet. Electronics just didn't have that nostalgic book smell or the soft touch of a well-loved page.

Going to the library also came with its own perks. For one, he got to visit Barbie at work. It was always nice to see her as they had this unspoken solidarity between them. The atmosphere was also a plus. There was just something special about being able to be completely solitary yet still have this special connection to the other patrons. Seeing the old man enjoying a novel with his wife, the book club that met on Sundays, the haggard office worker winding down on the weekend with a graphic novel, the young woman teaching herself sign language, the teens goofing off while they were supposed to be studying, a mom reading The Kissing Hand to her kids, all of the various people here for various reasons; all of it made Jason feel like he was a part of something bigger.

He was currently browsing a display of LGBT+ books for young adults that the library had put up for Pride Month. '"Cemetery Boys", "Aristotle and Dante", "You Should See Me in a Crown", "Six of Crows", "Boyfriend Material", "Red, White, and Royal Blue", "Carry On", Oh- "The Song of Achilles" that sounds interesting?'

That’s when he felt a small chill pass behind him. He initially dismissed it as a draft from the air conditioner, but soon after he heard the sound of excited giggles nearby. He didn't think too much of it assuming it was another kid on their way out of the children's section. However, something niggled in the back of his head that this particular giggle was one he was familiar with.

That's when he felt something collide with his leg. He looked down to see a small child with a head of glossy black hair in a red beanie glomping his leg. Suddenly, the child looked up and beamed at him. Jason's eyes lit up with recognition and he laughed.

" Hey there munchkin, how are you?"

Ellie continued to smile, releasing her hold on his leg.

" I'm doing really good Mr. Jason! Daddy told me he didn't have any work today and he said we could go anywhere we wanted! First, we went to the bodega a got these really big breakfast sandwiches! Like really really big! Like the size of my face and we shared! And then Daddy took me to the park and it was really fun! I saw a squirrel there but it ran away before I could pet it! And then we came here and Daddy said we'd make me a library card so I could get whichever books I wanted. He read Oh The Places You Will Go and Where the Wild Things Are to me and then they were gonna have story time and Daddy looked tired from the park so I told him to read one of his space books and rest while I went to story time like a big girl! When story time was over I looked around and saw you so I came over to say hi and thank you for the cookies and food because daddy says we should always say thank you when people give us gifts!"

Damn, the girl sure had one hell of a motor mouth on her. It seemed she and Danny were in the middle of a father-daughter day. It brought a smile to his face to see that she was well taken care of, but based on her very informative rambles, it seemed they were taking care of each other.

" Why don't we go say hi to your dad, huh Elle?"

The young girl gasped, "That's a great idea! Then Daddy can say thank you too! And then you can read with us and come to our house for dinner! Daddy kept saying how he wanted to make something for you too since you made us the-, the- uuh... luz-on-ya and cookies!"

" Whoa there munchkin, how about we just start with hi?"

Ellie nodded with a determined look on her face, she wrapped her little hand around his pointer finger and pulled him along to the semi-secluded corner of the children's section. Sitting there in an armchair next to a small pile of books was Danny, who seemed to be out cold, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy slipping from his fingers.

'Aah he must be tired from moving in and probably from working too' Jason thought to himself. A smaller voice in the back of his chimed in with its own two cents. ' He still made time for her. He took her out and is spending the whole day with her even though he's tired. He's a good dad.' That's when he made up his mind not to disrupt Danny's nap and let him get some rest before he had to tackle the rest of his father-daughter day with his hyperactive six-year-old. He placed a hand on Ellie's shoulder, stopping her as she was about to shake Danny awake, and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

" It looks like you were right about your dad being tired. How about we let him rest for now and I'll say hi another time? Besides I wouldn't want to interrupt your daddy-daughter day now would I?" He started to guide her to a different portion of the library quickly forming a plan, "Hows' bout we do something I think you'll like? Did you know sometimes they bring puppies and kitties into the library?"

The young girl gasped, " REALLY!"

" Yeah, sometimes puppies and kitties can help people who are feeling sad or nervous feel better. They also help teach kids how to act nicely and quietly so that they don't scare animals by letting them read to a puppy or kitty. I can help you sign up to read to a puppy or kitty today if you want? Then afterward, you can go tell your dad and he'll be really proud of you."

The young girl seemed so excited by the prospect that Jason worried for a second that she might explode.

" That's a great idea Mr. Jason! He'll be so proud of me and he'll bring me again! And I'll get so good at not scaring animals that the squirrels in the park will let me pet them! Then, Daddy will be so impressed that he'll let us get our own puppy and Cujo can come live with us!"

Jason winced, perhaps his plan had been a tad too effective. Single parents had a hard enough time keep themselves afloat while looking after their kids, a pet was extra expenses and another commitment to devote time and effort to. Pets were usually out of budget and out of question for anyone living in or near the Alley.

Well, he'd cross that bridge if he ever got to it. For now, he focused on getting Ellie signed up to read to Charlie, the old St. Bernard that was at the library this today. He and the trainer, he squinted reading her name tag, Amanda, supervised the session. Jason would be lying if he wasn't endeared by the sight of a young girl reading Dragons Love Tacos very enthusiastically to a dog nearly twice her size.

" It's nice to see a young father spending time with his daughter."

'I agree' Jason thought before realizing Amanda thought he was Ellie's dad.

" Oh- ah no I'm her -," Jason quickly made up his mind on the least creepy excuse he could find, " -babysitter. Although, her father does make a lot of effort spend time with her."

The dog trainer flushed and apologized for her mistake but Jason waved her off saying it was no big deal. Silently, he wondered how often Danny got time to himself. When he realized what he was thinking he raised an eyebrow at himself before dismissing it as worry for a young parent and wondering how he divided his time to be able to take such good care of his daughter.

Ellie was saying her final goodbyes to Charlie when he got a text from Alfred reminding him he had promised to meet him for tea and some chitchat. Once Ellie returned to his side he let her know that he had had fun seeing her today but that he had to go spend some time with his granddad and that he'd have to say hi to her dad another time. She accepted this with a surprising amount of maturity for a 6-year-old but made him pinky-promise that he'd definitely spend some time with the both of them next time they saw each other. Jason happily accepted and sent her back off to her dad before heading over to the tea shop he and Alfred liked to meet at.

" It is so nice to see you again Master Jason. I'm happy to see arrive in one piece. Usually when you are delayed it is due to some rather -ah, unfortunate hold-ups," Alfred greeted him. He returned the smile, sinking into his seat across from Alfred, ready to unload.

" Not this time Alfie, though it is a bit of a story."

" One I'm sure you'll be pleased to tell me all about," he challenged, raising an eyebrow. Jason just shook his head and chuckled.

" Sure thing Alfie."

~

The next time he ran into Danny and Ellie he was at the grocery store.

Jason had been examining a piece of zucchini when he felt a light, cool breeze quickly followed by the sensation of someone walking past him. A lean figure came and stood nearby inspecting the squash. Jason glanced up, having registered a new presence, before doing a double take. A small grin graced his lips as he spoke,

" Well hey there neighbor, didn't expect to see you today."

Danny looked up, slightly startled before he saw that it was Jason. He smiled back and returned his greeting in a warm tone.

" Hey neighbor, I didn't expect to see you either. Honestly, I was hoping we wouldn't meet till I had made a batch of my family's signature fudge to give you as a thank you when we returned your dishes for the food and for looking after Ellie that day in the library."

" Ah~ the little munchkin told you bout that did she?"

" She was pleased to inform me about how she was learning not to scare animals and how Mr. Jason was sooo nice and even pinky promised to spend some more time with her." he teased.

Jason flushed slightly, his hand coming up to the back of his neck,

" Oh yeah, I hope I didn't overstep my bounds there. She just seemed so excited."

" Yeah, that sounds like my little spitfire!" he chuckled fondly. He took a deep breath and continued. " Well if you don't have anything else going on tonight I'd love to have you over. Ellie has really been looking forward to seeing you again and I can whip up some fudge that you can take home with you if you stay for dinner?" Danny seemed to flush at his own forwardness before rushing to continue, " I mean- not that you have to, especially if you're busy! I just- thought it might be nice to get to know my neighbor, especially since Ellie seems to like you so much! But-"

Jason, who had just finished processing the dinner invite, interrupted before Danny spiraled deeper into his nervous rambles. He place a hand on Danny's shoulder to get his attention and spoke,

" Sure. I'd love to come over Danny." He smiled, puffing up his chest, “ Besides, I have a pinky promise to fulfill.”

Danny returned his smile with a laugh, giving Jason's shoulder an embarrassed shove. Jason grinned at having successfully made the other laugh. The two stared at each other for a beat, coming down from their high of making each other laugh, before flushing and looking away. A look of realization passed over Danny's face and he turned to speak to Jason again.

" You probably have your own groceries to finish and put away. How about you come over around 7:30? I can have the fudge cooling in the fridge while we eat, oh which reminds me, you’re not allergic to anything are you?"

Jason smiled back. "7:30 sounds great Danny and no, no allergies as far as I’m aware, though I’m not particularly fond of most shellfish."

“Well alrighty then I’ll see you at 7:30,” Danny confirmed with a smile and rushed off to continue his own shopping.

And that’s how Jason found himself standing outside the Nightingale residence in a casual maroon 3/4 sleeve tee, a dark denim jacket, and some of his nicer trousers with a bouquet of flowers he put a frankly embarrassing amount of thought into. He figured bringing more food wouldn’t be appropriate since he was a dinner guest, dessert wouldn’t fly either as Danny had claimed he’d be making fudge, and wine didn’t seem appropriate with a 6-year-old also in attendance.

‘Come on Jason, it’s just a casual dinner with your neighbors! Normal human interaction, nothing to be nervous about! You can do this!’

Jason took a breath and knocked on the door. He heard a pitched squee followed by a “it’s him daddy!” come from behind the door. Unconsciously, Jason smiled as he heard the door unlocking. As it opened he was met with a cool breeze from within the apartment and the sight of his two neighbors. Danny was in a pale, moss green apron, smudged with what appeared to be powdered sugar, over a pale blue button up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and cuffed jeans. Ellie was dressed in an interesting combo of pink crocs, neon green leggings, a sparkly, powder blue tutu, a white shirt with glittery black script declaring her “Daddy’s little princess”, a denim jacket embroidered with flowers and vines on the back and sleeves, and a plastic tiara with a big purple gem in the middle fixed atop her signature red beanie.

“Hi,” Danny greeted a bit breathlessly. His young daughter stood in front of him beaming up at Jason.

“ Mr. Jason you came!” She bounced excitedly on her heels before launching forward to hug his leg. She tugged at his jacket before pointing to her own, “Look! We match!”

With a smile, Jason got down on one knee and offered the flowers to her, “ And what an honor it is to match with such a beautiful princess! Please, accept these flowers as a token of my goodwill m’lady!”

“Thank you!” The girl giggled, accepting the bouquet and scurrying back into the apartment. Jason watched her go with a smile. He then turned his gaze to look up at Danny who watched the whole interaction with a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. He met Jason’s gaze and smiled.

“Why don’t you come in too my good sir,” he teased, holding out his hand to help Jason up. Jason smirked at the opportunity Danny had unknowingly presented him. He took Danny’s hand but made no move to get up. Instead, he ran his thumb over the other man’s knuckles and slowly brought the hand closer to his face. He glanced up once more, teal eyes connecting to icy blue ones.

“Of course my dear king,” he whispered. His breath dancing over Danny’s hand, his lips ghosting over his knuckles. Maintaining eye contact, the kneeling man placed a gentle kiss on his knuckles, watching a beautiful red flush bloom upon the young man’s face.

‘His hand is cold. His fingers have the beginnings of callouses on them. It feels like his hand was made to fit in mine. This feels right’

Jason is snapped out of his reverie when Danny clears his throat. He coughs into his other hand while trying to hide his blush, averting his eyes in embarrassment. He doesn't withdraw his hand however, allowing Jason to continue to hold it. Jason took that as his sign to get up before this got too awkward.

He rose from the ground still not letting go of the other's hand. The pair stood there for a moment with their hands intertwined, as if a message was being passed through their tingling palms. A charge filled the air with an exhilarating tension. The kind you feel before trying something unfamiliar and new that, unbeknownst to you, will become your favorite.

“So, uh, let’s head in then?” Danny said, slowly withdrawing his hand from Jason’s, almost as if he was reluctant to do so.

“Let’s,” Jason replied and the two turned into the apartment.

Danny had Ellie show Jason to the bathroom so he could wash up as he set the table. He had made grilled squash, a macaroni and beef hotdish, and some Greek salad on the side. The three of them sat at the table making some small talk ( how are they liking it in Gotham, how did the rest of daddy-daughter day go, does Jason have restaurant/activity recommendations, would he like to see Ellie’s favorite model airplane, etc.) and laughing with each other over horrible dad jokes and Ellie’s antics.

Jason could feel his chest fill with an almost unbearable warmth. He would’ve sworn it’d have melted him from the inside out if it hadn’t been accompanied by an overwhelming feeling of joy and desire. The traitorous little whisper in his head returned to comment on how much he’d love to be a part of the Nightingale’s family.

Soon enough it was time for Ellie to head to bed and Jason to head out, lest he be late for patrol.

“Here, I can clear off the table while you put her to bed.”

Danny rushed to stop him despite the young child koala wrapped over his torso. “Oh, you really don’t have to do that. I can-”

“Relax your highness, let me take care of this while you put the princess to bed.” He gave Danny a kind look, hefting up the dirty dishes. Danny returned it with a grateful look and turned to go put his daughter to bed. Over his shoulder, Ellie looked up sleepily and weakly waved one last time saying “Goodnight Mr.Jason” in a small voice.

Jason smiled gently at her and replied, “Goodnight princess.”

He then turned back to his task of clearing the table. Moving the dirty dishes to the sink and the serving dishes to the counter. He figured he’d get started on the dishes while he waited for Danny to return. He let his mind wander as he covered a plate with soapy suds. Danny and Ellie seemed like a good pair of neighbors. He doubted they’d cause him any trouble and if they ever unintentionally did, Jason found himself thinking he’d find it rather easy to forgive them. The two were both so welcoming and full of life. They made Jason feel so happy and peaceful tonight. They welcomed him into their home and made him feel as if they enjoyed his company and wanted him around for more than just a cursory “return the favor” dinner. ‘As If he belongs there. With them.’ The little voice returned, prompting Jason to reel in his thoughts. He’s only known them for what? Two weeks? These weren’t the type of thoughts he should be having at this point. He tried to rationalize it telling himself he just missed the domesticity of family dinners like he had when Catherine was in a good stretch or like he had with Bruce, Dick, and Alfred as kid when they were all getting along. He made up his mind to attend one of the bi-weekly family dinners at the manor coming up. It’d be nice to see the little demon brat, big bird, and nerd bird again now that they were getting along like actual brothers.

“Oh! Jason you didn’t have to do that!” His train of thought broken by Danny rushing over to protest him doing dishes. “You’re a guest! You really didn’t have to-”

“It’s okay Danny, I wanted to,” he reassured the fussing young man who pulled him away from the sink. The young man responded by pushing him out of the kitchen and telling him to grab his jacket before turning back to grab something from the fridge.

And there he stood in the doorway, 20 minutes after he had intended to leave, still saying goodbye. Danny pushed a familiar Tupperware container into his hands, which recognized as the one he had given them lasagna in, now full of dark squares of fudge sprinkled with a bit of white and green on top.

Danny smiled as he handed him the sweets. “A family recipe with my own little twist on it,” he winked. Jason gratefully accepted, wishing the young man well and agreeing that he hoped to see the other again soon. And with that, Jason rushed off hoping that he wouldn’t be late for patrol.

~ Later that night Jason returned to his apartment, exhausted. He chucked his helmet off onto the bed and stumbled to his kitchen. He pulled open the fridge in search of something to eat when his eyes landed on the fudge his neighbor had given him. He pulled it out and grabbed a square, giving it a sniff before biting in. His eyes widened at the taste.

The fudge was, well fudgy, but not overly sweet. It had a richness of dark chocolate and a sweeter note from the white chocolate chips mixed in. There were also candied orange peels mixed into it which gave the fudge a bit of chew and acidity to break up the richness. The fudge was topped with pistachios adding a nutty, earthy flavor to the experience. He’s sure that if Martian Manhunter ever tried these he’d accuse Jason of giving him hard drugs. But what Jason liked most of all was the quality only homemade food and family recipes passed down over generations have. He could practically taste the amount of love and thought that went into this fudge.

Jason smiled to himself finishing off his square and decided the save the rest for later. He headed off to bed with a peaceful smile on his face and a warm, full, feeling in his chest.

~~~

I tried very hard to balance out the dialogue and description as well as to not make it too long winded and keep the story moving so please let me know what you guys think. I love receiving feedback so if there is anything you want to see more or less of let me know. I’m also open to suggestions of where Jason should run into our father-daughter pair next.

If anyone's interested here is what the bouquet was comprised of: apple blossom- preference, basil- good wishes, white camellia- you're adorable, goldenrod- encouragement/good fortune, violets- watchfulness/modesty/faithfulness

I actually looked up a real fudge recipe so that I'd have and easier time describing it. You can find it here: https://www.midwestliving.com/recipe/candy/creamy-rich-pistachio-tangerine-fudge

[midnightsnakesstuff]

Beautiful pt 2

*:..｡o○　○o｡..:*

Pairing: Ajax petropolis x reader

Warrings: nothing but long chapter

Summary: Y/n is the daughter of maleficent but she always thought why wasn't she like her mother. That was when she got to Nevermore not knowing the secret she was looking for was right in her face.

Requested: no but ik ts Ajax.

Enjoyyyy

Part one: beautiful pt1

ﾟ+*:;;:* *:;;:*+ﾟ

No one POV

It's been a few days since the pool accident and Y/n has been avoiding Ajax, Xavier and Enid. Parents weekend is in a few hours. Y/n knew her mother won't make it but she had a little bit of hope. "Bye mother". Y/n said ending the portal call.

She sighed before groaning. Ever since the night by the statue Y/n wound have been itching and burning when she past it but she never got the chance to go and look deeper into it.

"Ms Y/n please come to the qaud". Ms Thornhill said popping her head out. "Yes Ms". Y/n said putting a jacket on. Grabbing her phone she walked as slowly to the qaud as possible. Not wanting parents weekend to start.

When she got there she saw Enid, Xavier and Ajax standing together with Wednesday behind them. She wasn't going to go stand with them since she doesn't k now how they feel about the wounds.

10 minutes went by and all sorts of people walked in going to there children. Most of the kids looked just like their mother's and some looked like their fathers. Y/n never knew her father but she didn't want to. The stories she heard lead her to believing he was a bad man.

Smiling when she saw Ajax parents crushing him with hugs before kissing his face all over made her feel happy. His smile was the reason she got up in the morning.

She looked down when he caught her staring making his parents notice it to. "Is that your girlfriend". His mother asked making Ajax light up with a bright sade of red. "Mom stop". He said rubbing his neck which made her chuckle.

Seeing everyone with their families changed Y/n mood. Knowing her mother she doesn't like contact with the human people let alone other people with special abilities but that's what she liked about her mother. Always mysterious and quite. Deep down she did care for Y/n but was afraid of showing emotions.

Y/n mother grew up knowing if you show emotions you'll be seen as weak and useless and her mother was nothing like that. Yet she did put thorn walls around her kingdom when she heard they were picking on Y/n for having horns. What Y/n mother would do to keep her safe

Y/n POV

I was about to walk away when I saw something that made me stop. A black crow standing at the top of the roof. I recognized those wings from mile away. It was Diaval my mother's partner in crime. I quickly stood up ready to head to the roof when I heard a loud thud behind me.

Most people stopped talking and looked behind me faves turning slightly pale when they saw a winged women behind me. I turned around quickly with a smile on my face. "Mother". I said before hugging her tightly.

"My dearest child don't push the limits okay". Maleficent said tapping my back. I didn't let go making her sigh. She slowly wrapped her wings around us hugging me just as tight. " I missed you". I said pulling away. "I must say I missed you to. It's very quite in the palace". My mother said opening her wings.

"I see you have gotten my gift". My mother said touching my horns that was wrapped in a light blue scarf. "Thank you mother I love it". I said with a smile on my face. "So this is nevermore". She said looking around. "Yeah it is quite big on the inside but it's alright". I said holding her arm.

"Any good news child". My mother said looking down. "Yes well kind off. I have been feeling a strong connection from one of the statues near the qaud. I like feel my wings but I haven't gotten the time to go and check it out". I said looking at Ajax.

"Who's that. Was he the one that hurted you". My mother said trying to walk over to him. "No no mother he's the boy I like". I said grabbing her arm. "Please don't say anything just keep it low key okay". I said pulling her to sit down.

She scoffed. "I can be low key or whatever you children say these days". She said rolling her eyes.

Ajax POV

While I was standing talking to my parents silence filled the whole qaud. I looked around only to see a women with the same horn as Y/n and wings. "Mother". She said before hugging her.

Her. Mother. Is. MALEFICENT?? I looked over to Xavier and Enid to see them also having the same expression on their faces. That took a turn I never expected. She looked just like her mother well except for the wings part. I was happy to see her smile when her mother hugged her.

No one POV

Y/n took her mother to her room to let her get settled in. When they walked in the room looked just like the morgue which made maleficent smile. "I asked for a second bed and made it just like the one at home mother for you". Y/n said showing the bed that looked like a nest.

Even though she thought her mother wouldn't come she still prepared. "Thank you my child". She said. "Now what do you do all day". Her mother said sitting on the nest bed.

"Well we go to school learning about plants and normal school stuff". Y/n said taking her scarf off. "Sometimes we go to the local town to do jobs". She continued putting on comfortable clothes.

Her mother sighed before standing up. Before Y/n could put on a shirt she felt her mother hand touch her wounds slightly. "You'd look so beautiful with your wings my child". Maleficent said. "Thanks mom". Y/n said with a ile but deep down she wondered why she didn't have wings.

Parents weekend was a blast for Y/n. Going on late night flies with her mother and Diaval. Diaval was a sharp shifter and always saw Y/n as his child. He would always with the help of maleficent tune into a big bird before flying with Y/n on his back around the woods.

When the weekend was over Y/n was a bit emotional but her mother promised to come back as soon as possible. She watched her mother and Diaval fly away before whipping her eyes dry.

-

It was the day of the Raven dance and everyone was running around trying to find dresses to wear while Y/n didn't care one bit. She wasn't planning on going since she didn't have a date nor a dress.

"Oh come on please Y/n". Enid said walking closer. "It will be so fun. Be my friend date then you won't be alone". She said smiling. "Enid I'll think about it okay". Y/n said sighing. "That's not a no nor a yes I'll take it". Enid said rushing over to Wednesday.

Y/n walked into her room seeing the most beautiful dress hanging from the ceiling by vines. "Woah". She said walking closer to the dress seeing a letter

"My dearest child. I have heard a lot about this Raven dance or whatever you call it and decided to give you one of my dresses. Diaval said that a white themed dance so I hope you like it. I want portal fotos love mother". Y/n read out loud with a smile on her face. "Thanks mother and Diaval". Y/n said picking the same colored scarf to match.

Night time

The dance already started and Y/n was still in her room. She sighed looking as the the dress before putting it on. It showed way to much of her back and she disliked it a lot. She groaned looking for another scarf to put over her shoulders when she heard someone.

"You know you don't have to fit in to be beautiful". A British man said. " Diaval what are you doing here". Y/n said turning around. "Your mother sent me because she knew you'd doubt yourself. Y/n wings or no wings it doesn't make you t he person you are". Diaval said before taking the scarf away. "Be yourself tonight". "But-" "But nothing your gorgeous just like your mother now go and enjoy it". Diaval said hugging me tightly.

"Wait before that". Y/n said taking her horn hat off letting her hair fall loose. "That's my girl". He said before turning into a crow. Y/n put her shoes on before leaving.

Yes she was nervous but she didn't care. When she got closer she could hear the people laughing and talking about something different. Loud music played from the inside and the smell of alcohol was everywhere.

"Oh my soul Ms Y/n you look gorgeous". Ms Thornhill said surprised. " Oh thank you". Y/n said with a smile. Whispered was heard as Y/n made her way into the Hall and all eyes we're on her. She didn't liked the attention but who could blame her?

"Oh my soul Ajax look at Y/n isn't she gorgeous". Enid said shaking him violently. " Enid my beanie is going to fall off stop it". Ajax said before looking at Y/n. His jaw dropped faster then his grades as he started at Y/n.

"Go ask her already". Xavier said pushing Ajax closer to Y/n. "Um hi Y/n". Ajax said rubbing his neck. "Oh Ajax hi". Y/n could feel her cheeks burning as she made eye contact with him. "You look amazing". Ajax said smiling. "Oh thank you, you look handsome yourself". Y/n said. In fact Ajax was always handsome.

"I know this is very unromantic and so late but I have been trying to ask you this for at least four days but you always walk away. Would you like to be my date to the Raven". Ajax said hoping he'll hear a yes. " I'd love to Ajax ". Y/n said with a smile.

The night went on and Y/n loved being with Ajax again. Laughing and talking like they did before the accident. Now they were walking hand in hand outside the hall. "I just want to say I'm sorry for what happened". Ajax said stopping. "You know what it's really okay Ajax". Y/n said looking at him before smiling.

"I wanted to give you this". Ajax said before pulling her ripped scarf out of his pocket. "I'd thought you'd like to have it back". He continued. "Thank you". Y/n said kissing his cheek gently.

Just as they were about to walk Y/n groaned in pain before falling to her knees. "Y/n what's wrong". Ajax said dropping next to her. "My back hurts". She groaned louder gripping Ajax hand.

"I'm going to look okay". Ajax said before moving her hair away. "Your wounds are red Y/n". He said worried. "Take me to the statue". Y/n stutter before being lifted up. Ajax rushed to the statue before snapping two time.

He was unsure if you ment go in or stay out but decided to go in for privacy. She groaned louded at they got closer to the main floor feeling as if her wounds were being ripped out.

"Ajax make it stop please". Y/n said gripped his hand. "I don't know what to do. I can go get Enid". He said. "Please don't leave me". Y/n begged softly feeling hot tears run down her face.

The sound of glass break was heard through out the whole library with flapping noises follow behind. Ajax looked around seeing nothing but books confused on what he's hearing.

Suddenly a pare of wings flew down before attaching themselves against Y/n back. She yelled in pain and a glowing light came from her back making Ajax more worried.

"I'm here Y/n it's okay". Ajax said rubbing her cheeks when he heard her screaming dying down. After a few minutes of laying in his arms Y/n finally moved. "Take it easy". Ajax said pulling her up with him. "You okay". He asked looking at her worried. Y/n nodded slightly before looking around.

She noticed her wings and gasped. "My wings". Y/n said looking at Ajax. "You have your wings". He smiled before hugging her tightly. She hugged back wrapping her wings around Ajax and she cried with joy.

"Finally". She whispered. "You look ten times more beautiful Y/n". He said pulling away. "You think so?" She asked. "Yes Y/n wings or no wings no matter what you'll still be the most prettiest girl in my eyes". Ajax said smiling.

"Thank you Ajax". Y/n said before pulling him into a kiss. He was shocked at first but ended up kissing back. Holding her cheek and she wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him closer. "Would you like to be my girlfriend". He asked pulling away slightly. "I'd love to be your girlfriend Ajax". Y/n said pulling him into another kiss. He felt happy again and so did she

[as8bakwthesage]

I gave Tem Souldancer a proper reference for their civilian self and their Magical Boy/Enbie transformation!

So a couple of notes:

Tem Souldancer is 16 years old when they meet the Turtles. They use they/them pronouns. They are also a self-insert who I ship with Donnie.*

Tem is short for Artemisia, a name that they adopted after moving to NYC. Their "real" name is Crow, but they did keep their surname out of respect for their family's culture and history. So they went from Crow Souldancer to Artemisia Souldancer, but everyone calls them Tem for short.

Tem is Two-Spirit, and is on Testosterone. Their gender is "your worst nightmare." They are also ace-spec.

Tem was diagnosed with ASD as a child. Their special interests lie in the complexities of magic and systems of the mystic arts. They study magic almost like it's a science. And also crows. They have a huge thing for crows. Duh no shit

They are very silly

Tem's Backstory and Powers...

Tem's Backstory:

Headcanon time! The magic in ROTTMNT stems from two sources - from the Spirits of the Earth or from the Krang/Onni. The magic that comes from the Earth and its Spirits acts like veins, and ties all living creatures together. The veins are in all kinds of colours, depending on the life force of the person a single vein is connected to. For obvious reasons, Raph's is red, Leo's is blue, Donnie's is purple, Mikey's is orange, April's is yellow, etc. However, most people cannot see the Veins, including the Hamatos.

Tem, and by extension their family, can see these Veins, alongside some other stuff. This is because many centuries ago, a young woman was given these abilities by one of the more powerful Spirits in order to protect the Earth from the Demons who would try to destroy it (the Krang.) This woman adopted the title Souldancer because it felt like she was dancing among the souls of the living. This would become the surname for Tem's family.

Souldancer children are born with a small crystal on their body, varying in shape, colour, and location. These are called Soul Crystals, and they help the Souldancers use their powers. However, they only appear on firstborn children. Any other children born after do not get a crystal. The secondborn are taught how to do magic for reasons that will become apparent in the next paragraph.

The firstborn child would be trained in the mystic arts and in the ability to see and manipulate the Veins. The secondborn child would be responsible for producing the next generation of firstborn and secondborn children, so that the Souldancer line never died out. The firstborns are not allowed to have relationships or develop attachments to others. (Kind of like the Jedi Order in the Star Wars prequels, and the reasons why are the exact same.) The firstborn are called Guardians, and the secondborn are called Carriers.

Tem is a very weird case because they and their brother Rook are the firstborn together. They are twins, and they both have crystals. Rook's is green while Tem's fluctuates between white, shades of grey, and black (I'll come back to why that's weird later!) But Souldancer twins have never been born before this, so Tem's parents had to figure out what to do. Because Tem was born a few minutes after Rook, their parents decided that Rook would be the next Guardian because he was older. Tem would be the next Carrier. They were supposed to marry a man who was nine years older than them when they turned 16.

They tried to smile and continue living. But they've always loved using their magic and protecting and helping others, and they don't want to give up that part of themselves. So when they turned 15, they ran away from home and moved out to NYC, where they knew an entrance to the Hidden City was. They figured that being closer to the Hidden City would mask their Soul Crystal from their parents' detection.

Tem set up shop and began working as a waiter, while also doing VTubing on the side (which they are slowly but surely getting more views and money from.) They also use the nights to their advantage to not only fight crime and help out injured people using their powers, but also to fight any and all remnants of the Demons' armies. Tem is also trying to destroy any and all remaining Krang weapons (one of which being the Dark Armor.)

Tem meets the Turtles in season 1 of ROTTMNT. They get very insecure about having to share a spotlight with any other heroes. Tem has lived in their brother's shadow for years and wants to escape it and make something of themselves independent from their family. They project hard on the Turtle brothers as a result. However, they soon become friends with the brothers, and develop a rivalry/friendship with Donnie (which eventually turns into a romance, but that's a very slow burn.)

Tem's Powers:

Remember how I mentioned above that Tem's Soul Crystal being greyscale is weird? Well, here's why! All Souldancer firstborns are born with a Crystal, and they all come in different shapes and colours. However, no child has ever been born with a Crystal like Tem's before.

The scale of White to Black shades in magic is reserved for those with a LOT of power, typically Spirits. White magic was typically more focused and could allow a person to utilise any kind of magic they wanted to. Black magic, on the other hand, was harder to control and was more prone to instability. However, it was also the culmination of all colours, so it could also do crazy powerful stuff. The shades of Greys in magic are a combination of both of these aspects. The darker the shade, the more magical energy a person had, but that magic was unstable and difficult to control.

Tem's Crystal changes colour depending on how upset they are. If they feel a very strong emotion such as hatred or terror or even love, their Crystal gets darker. However, Tem's appearance while transformed is a mix of different shades of greys mostly because it is a reflection of their experiences with their magic and emotions. The colour of their Crystal only changes whenever Tem overexerts themselves.

Tem's powers are more specific however. They can see the Veins, but they can also interact with them. If they spend enough time, Tem could find anybody in the world using the Veins. They can even siphon magical energy from a large network of sources to heal others. Think of it like the Law of Equivalent Exchange. Typically, minor injuries like cuts or bruises or even sprains don't take too much magic or effort. Wounds, stabs, broken bones are trickier but also not too difficult to heal. Near-death injuries are harder, but not impossible. However, when someone dies, it is basically impossible to heal from that.

Tem also can drain the life force and magical energy from others. Very similar deal to the Healing magic. Draining magic is easier when it's in smaller quantities. Typically draining small amounts of magic from someone will make them tired or weaker. In larger quantities, it could bring someone to near death or even kill someone. However, removing so much magic from someone as to practically take their soul would absolutely be way too much Black magic for one person to handle and it could possibly kill them.

Alongside that, Tem can also mimic the powers of the Turtles, mostly whenever they are in close proximity to them. So the closer Tem is to a brother, the easier it is for Tem to mimic their powers. Their crystal and clothes even have the colour of the corresponding brother added to them, which disappears when Tem is no longer using their powers. It's also important to note that the more Tem uses one of the Turtles' magical abilities, they also tend to feel whatever it is the brother in question is feeling. They can only use one power at a time, and if they try to do multiple at once, it is too much.

In their Corvid form (as they like to call their transformed black and white self), they can glide, jump farther, run faster than any ordinary human. They also have a significantly higher pain tolerance and much faster reflexes.

/

*I have been a TMNT fan since 2012, and I was 16/17 when Rise was announced/released. Tem is an abridged version of myself in 2017/2018, which is when the events of the first season start. I'm adult now, so any and all content from me about teen Tem and teen Donnie will be strictly SFW. This is kind of a grey zone for me in terms of self-shipping because it's retroactive and Tem's experiences differ from my own drastically.

Why I'm retroactively self-shipping is very personal to me, but it boils down to healing my inner child/teenager. I grew up with these characters and I'd like to pay homage to my younger self and give them some love and support from healthy places. This is very much a love letter to teenage Aso.

[genya-simp568]

kny characters with a s/o that as darker skin

We go back to Japan where you know is rare seeing people with darker skin so you often get amused,weird looks let's see how kny characters will react

SANEMI

•he doesn't really care about your skin colour he finds you beutiful

•if you get weird looks he will give the most deadly look to the person that gave you a dirty look

•he is actually impressed by how you do your hair is ego is to big to ask "can you teach me how you do your hair "

•he finds you very very unique like the most special person

•she would so many questions about your culture

•she wants to cook food from your culture

•she is inlove with how your hair looks

•she already get weird or amused looks so you both get looks

•she will shampoo your hair and fell in love with the texture and yes she always do your hair after she knows how to do it

•he will stare sometimes into your souls and you will see the tiniest blush (he is memorising your features)

•when you change your hair he will turn into a tomato and stutter and be like " i-i like y-your hair today" and look away

•if you get weird stares he will look at the person face with that face of is "😶"

•he always wanna learn more about your culture

•HE IS IN LOVE WITH YOUR HAIR would play with it for hours

•i feel like he would stare into your soul and admire your features while having a bit of blush and a sweet small smile

•nah but if someone says something negative or racist he will say the most brutal insult you have ever heard while he says it like it's nothing and with a straight face..

•if you change your hair he will be like 🧐 "Who are you again?" Just jk🤭

+CROW

•believe it or not if you have curly hair she will turn it into a nest

•it took her a long while to warm up to you

•he loves you for who you are

• imagine you change your hair style maybe to locks or box braids or whatever and he screams "YOU LOOK VERY PRETTY TODAY Y/N"

•if you get weird looks he will look at you and hold your hand (crying)

• she talks to giyuu of how amazing you are and if giyuu doesn't say anything shinobu will give that look 🙂 "tomioka-san don't you have anything to say about y/n"

•if someone give you looks she will just you... know that creepy beutiful smile of hers and they ran away

•she really like how you change your hair

•he loves you

•if a cult member look at you the wrong way bye bye

•he dresses you in the most fancy outfits you ever imagined

•once he saw you in box braids for the first time he became obsessed and asked the cult members to do your hair

•treat you like a princess

My bbg genya

•he will blush at every time you change your hairstyle or cook food from your culture

•he will curse all the alphabet if someone look at you the wrong way

•one time zenitsu tried to rizz you up and he may said sm a bit racist he never spoke to you again and he had a black eye 👀 and he was bald for some reason GENYAWORK

• man once tried to compliment you he turned into a red statue he was breathing so heavily that he fainted

AS A BLACK PERSON THIS IS MORE BASED ON HAIR AND THE CULTURE LIKE CURLY HAIR OR THE BEUTIFUL SKIN COLOUR

[starsarefire824]

I wrote a little tiny “Mike cooks for Will” fic. inspired by @bylertruther. I should have it finished by tomorrow.

I Held On As Tightly As You Held Onto Me    

Mike acts like his life is a waste, but… maybe it isn't. Maybe that’s just his perception. Maybe he just is asking for too much. Nancy has always told him he’s a pessimist. A Debbie Downer. A buzzkill. And maybe that’s true. Maybe he’s making it all up.

 But—it feels real—it feels lost all the same. Time lost. People lost.

Will. Lost.  

Suddenly, there’s a light knock at the door and Mike slams the heavy ceramic lid of the saucepan he’d peeked under again back down with a heavy thud. His heart pounds in his chest and he stares at the door as if goons from Hawkin’s Lab are going to break it down. Pressing his lips together and pulling his brows into a crease of determination, Mike sets his beer on the counter and heads towards the door.

 He straightens his sweater, brushes his black curls out of his face and frets that he hasn’t put on shoes. It feels strange for some reason to be in his bare socks. Vulnerable. He catches a glimpse of himself in the small mirror above the table where he keeps his keys and bills and other miscellaneous things he doesn’t know what to do with. Nothing special to see there. His eyes are still blackish-brown, his hair is still the same color as a crow’s feather and falling around his face in tangled curls, his shoulders are still too broad and pointed and his arms and waist are still too fucking skinny. He never did get around to working out to put on weight like Lucas and Steve had suggested. He brushes at a stain near his hip where his sweater meets his faded black jeans and sighs. It will have to do. All of it will have to do.  

Mike tugs at the door in a huff and Will is revealed to him. The first thing Mike notices is how Will’s mouth slackens in panicked surprise and the small, simple bouquet of mauve flowers in one hand. In his other is a bottle of red wine and he holds them out and smiles a hesitant little smile. His lips are still full and a dusky pink as they spread out over his straight, white teeth.

“Hey,” Mike greets him, his voice high and awkward and making him cringe when it reminds him of an airport in California a lifetime ago. Will’s green eyes shine brown against the beige backdrop of his apartment building’s hallway and widen with the same wonderment of having seen someone for the first time in a very long time. They catch on Mike’s chest and wander up his neck, along the length of his nose, briefly shooting up towards his hair, and then meet his eyes again.

“Hi,” Will says, bouncing on his feet and his voice deep and raspy with nervousness. He smiles again and his eyes dart towards the wall briefly before settling back on his with purpose. The awkwardness of it makes Mike’s cheeks burn.

“How are you?”

[angel-maybe-alive]

Harry Potter is a Brand

(long post)

So I never understood why Harry Potter was so popular when I was growing up, being honest I always thought about it as a pretty average book it wasn't very original or groundbreaking, my theory was always that harry Potter popularity was tied to the successful movie franchise it created.

But this explanation wasn't great either, yesterday I watched a video (the consumerist dystopia of harry Potter) and it just explained why Harry Potter was so popular but also why we probably won't have a new harry Potter

Harry Potter is a brand, not a book, but a brand.

To explain this I will use Percy Jackson as an example, Both Percy Jackson and Harry Potter were released close to one another with the same public in mind children and teenagers but despite it's similarities between them Harry Potter went down to history as "THE" 2000s children's book series while Percy was it's less popular cousin for weirder kids, the more of the underground option.

And the reason for that it's because Percy Jackson was not a marketable media.

Think about it what can you sell about Percy Jackson, we have the camp half blood tshirts (single design orange shirts with a pegasus print) the camp bead necklace (leather necklace with normal beads) no parent will be that comfortable buying their kids a imitation of a bronze sword,or knifes, or shields, the only other marketable objects are Percy's pen (described as a normal ballpoint pen) Anabeth's invisibility hat(normal Yankee hat) Luke's winged shoes(converses) and That's pretty much it, of course one could sell specific cabins t-shirts but it's both not book accurate and also there's twelve of them.

Percy Jackson doesn't have symbols like harry Potter does

Now compare this to harry Potter where any object has a magical version, a expensive magical version, they aren't just jelly beans they are magical jelly beans with gross flavors so is also a gimmick toy, the chocolate frogs aren't just chocolate they come with collectibles like a kinderegg, they don't use pen they use feathers, harry don't fly in a average broom it's a special broom with golden letters and a fucked up handle, and wands that can be sold as the most unconfortable to use pens, and potions bottles that can be used to sell perfume, and symbols, the deathly hallows, Harry's scar,the death eaters symbol, they can be used in anything, necklaces prints patches.

And of course the biggest cash cow of them all the houses, special little color coded factions that not only are extremely present in the books but also are a way to express how you want to be perceived, red and gold lions if you want to be perceived as brave, light grey and blue crows for the intelligent ones, black and yellow badgers for the friendly ones and silver and green snakes for the bad boys.

You can put those colors in almost anything and sell it, not just book accurate uniforms scarfs and robes, any piece of clothing in general and shoes, backpacks, bags, Sandals, nail polish, special edition of the books, eyeshadow palettes, school books,planners.

I live in a touristic town, we have a railroad and some palace looking hotels and years ago some guy just make a of brand harry Potter experience, basically middle class kids can pay for a weekend in this hotel that looks like any other hotel in town but because they put around colorful flags, you can arrive via the very old normal looking railroad, and they are separated by the colors and you can participate in cringe quidditch roleplay (running around a field with a broom between your legs) he rips those suckers of hundreds just for the vague idea of Hogwarts houses

And this is the real magic of Harry Potter, while in Percy Jackson magic takes the form of average things for plot reasons and therefore aren't really appealing to sell, in harry Potter average things get a magical expensive version that you can buy for your full harry Potter experience.

And this is also why we will not see something like harry Potter again, even the most popular books these days arent as marketable as harry Potter was, you can seel clothes with symbols of your new series, flags and what not, and maybe action figures but you can't monetize every aspect of it like Rowling did

This of course without talking about the toys, toy wands, brooms, collectable dolls etc

Because Harry Potter is also very family friendly for anyone ages 0 to 100 can have harry Potter merch, house themed baby clothes and full nurseries based on the houses, toys plenty of them, uniforms, fake acceptance letters, wands specific wands, a theme park of consumerist nightmare where you can enjoy fake magical beer and buy plushies of real not magical animals or just the houses animals plushies with scarfs, a wedding/sweet sixteen/quincianera all themed around this book.

Game of thrones made a lot of money with the westeros houses merch but it's mostly clothes for adults they can't seel a lot of toys or children merch based on the murder, incest, rape book series and tv show

Bridgerton have special themed balls and that's it

And with many modern fantasy books focusing on being gritty gloomy and adult they can't also sell as well as Harry Potter did

So at the end of the day Harry Potter was never really a book, it's a marketing strategy, a trendy aesthetic and it's a good one, and it was always supposed to be one.

And this makes me think about the concept of "I can't give up harry Potter" people because it makes me wander do people really miss Harry Potter a pretty average book with not a very original concept (hero's journey+Magic school a thing that was already done+British rich kids boarding school) or do they miss the rush of serotonin of buying and consuming more and more merch about this series about having their whole aesthetic based on those books.

And maybe this is why I personally never felt as connected to harry Potter, and when Rowling fucked up I could so easily drop it, as a broke kid in a third world country harry Potter was a tease to me, like any toy brand it was a torture really, I wanted those things I wanted the wands and the robes and the scarfs and the jelly beans, and I was so jealous of this girl on class who had a personalized hogwarts letter and I couldn't avoid feeling like I would be"less of a fan" because I didn't owned anything Slytherin themed and I never even got to buy the books (read them by the library)

So in the end looking back maybe this was the answer why despite how many other bookish people I knew talked so much about this book when I really sat down to read it, it felt lacking, because once you strip away the Hogwarts roleplay the merch the personalized houses the color coding and the magical world you can buy, the magical world brand.

Harry Potter it's just a average book.

[bluiex]

Crow Scar:

Bringing little trinkets to Grian out of appreciation. Grian and Scar randomly meet throughout the week to trade trinkets.

Preening each others wings, little chirps, and caws bouncing off the walls as they help each other.

Scars wings are smaller than Grians, and are duller than other Avian’s (Crows have duller and smaller wings. he can fly) So he felt like he couldn’t be a good enough mate to Grian if his weren’t Big and Shiny, but Grian told him that he loved him and his wonderful black wings.

Crows tail feathers shake like a dog's tail when they are happy and or in a safe place. His tail shakes when he is with Grian or he is really happy. His tail is not pointy, it’s a fan-shaped tail.

If you look closely Scars wings have a mix of Purple and blue in them. Scar use to hide his wings until Grian came to HermitCraft. But in Season seven he lets himself show off his wings.

Crows of a collection of noises like rattles, clicks, coo’s and bell-like notes.

Scar makes these sounds to himself and never around others. But one day Grian caught him doing it and started to Chirp back at him. They do this on a daily bases now, just a bunch of chirping and clicks/cooing sounds at each other.

Crows and Parrots mate for life. Scar, showing off his wings and tail while also bowing to Grian, Cooing and chirping (which is singing) at him showing that he wants him to be his mate.

For close intimacy, their face’s are touching but they are not kissing just nose-bumping each other, and their foreheads pressed together, as if they were touching bills. (My favorite one I came up with)

Scar takes way to long to make his nest. It takes a crow at least two weeks to make a nest, and Grian doesn’t understand why it takes him so long. (Grian takes three days to make his)

Scar hides his nest, Crows are very secretive around their nest, and their nest is a quiet place for them. He likes to nap and Preen with Grian and jellie in his nest.

Crows can hold grudges for generations.. like really. So Scar holding grudges over seasons and worlds with people and they cant MAKE IT UP TO HIM. Anything they do, doesn’t work. But he still nice to them just holds a grudge against them.

Cub has a basket in his base so Scar can drop off the little trinkets he gets of him. They are all blue and shiny sometimes even emeralds.

How you can earn Scars trust is giving him food and trinkets. Mumbo gives him a lot of scrap metal and food. Scar loves it, so he gives His shiniest red stone to Mumbo out of appreciation. (Second Favorite)

Mumbo, Cub, Grian, and Bdubs have feathers from Scar to show they are in his flock. But Grian has his shiniest feather to show who is mate is, and Scar has Grian most colorful Feather for the same reason.

-AAA anon, That anon who said “Scar being turned into a crow Avian when Grian feeds him a special golden apple”-Anon, gave me an idea but I will share it later!

UWAH I LOVE THEM Them touching nose to forehead qoq my heart- they're so in love. I'd like to imagine sometimes, Scar will play with Grian and make other odd noises (trying to scare Grian) but Grian can tell it is Scar, and that is coming from an avian asdjgfdfh

[misculenica]

Dreadwolf Speculation - Protagonist + Companions (Part 1 - long post)

Let me start by emphasising that this is purely my own speculation given what we've seen in the trailers, teasers, concept art, and the most recent leak we've had regarding gameplay (curtesy of reddit about a month or so ago). Feel free to disagree, propose your own speculations, and most of all, enjoy the freedom of deliberation!

Part 1 - The Protagonist.

I propose that the new protagonist of Dragon Age is called Rook.

A rook, below a wolf, as seen a few years ago. Mark Darrah tweeter images of this red book back around... 2017/2018 (I think this time period, I'm not a twitter person). This is pretty significant in my eyes, given the recent leaks from reddit that triggered the memory of this image.

This is a cropped still from one of the leaked images of the early alpha gameplay.

There's a character called Rook (and we'll talk about Davrin in Part 2...), confirmed - I completely believe these leaks are real. Given the significance of the rook image above, back from 2017ish, I feel like it'd be odd for a companion/side character/even a notable character to have such prolific imagery... So that stands to reason, the next main character will be Rook.

But let me give you a brief overview of a rook;

a rook is a piece in chess; it may move any number of squares horizontally or vertically without jumping (oh maker, bioware, please), and it may capture an enemy piece on its path; additionally, it may participate in castling (castling is a special move between the rook and the king that both gets your rook into play and shields your king via a switcheroo, basically (poetic given how Rook will swap places with the Inquisitor against Fen'Harel - it's actually really interesting ((I swear)). It's the only time in chess where you can move 2 pieces at once, and where the king can move more than 1 square!). The rook is sneaky, fast, and good for infiltrating the enemy and forcing them to move.

I also find it interesting how you start chess with 2 rooks... Perhaps that will mean nothing, but perhaps not....

Now, let's consider a rook; the bird;

A rook is a very sociable/gregarious member of the Corvus family (crows, esssentially), who are rarely found by themselves. It should also be noted that wolves and ravens have a distinct but unusually friendly/symbiotic relationship (ravens are also of the Corvus family) - I just think that's neat, considering the dread wolf.

I really like the bird symbology - especially having a previous bird protagonist (Hawke, of course!).

; Leliana also keeps corvids as her messengers. (wait... red book with a rook.... red rook.... where have I... Ohh)

Hahaaa.... I'm not done!

See those black feathered arm flaps? Am I connecting the dots? (You ain't connecting shit, Nae)

I suppose you all are thinking the same/similar thing; this is an antivan crow.... this is maybe zevran.... No. It is not. Why is it not? Let me pull up the evidence; concept art (soo reliable).

Please note, the anitvan crow to the left - ready to grab the palanquin holder- servant guy. And on the right, at the front... The character from above - similar in design, but the crow lacks the arm wing flapy-dealies. Let me zoom in on them both so you can see.

Alright, they are rather similar in design. But the right looks much more like the wine drinking guy. (Note that the one on the right looks male, and the one on the left looks female - could that imply these 2 are the male/female variations of our next protagonist? Or... Is this the 2nd rook on the chessboard I mentioned? Is the other rook going to dieee??? Tin foil hats for everyone!).

That's all I currently have on the protagonist! Hope you got as much out of this as I did!

Part 2 - Companion;

also;

[heraldofcrow]

I don’t see him talked about much, but I wanna mention that Vileblood Drifter Leo seems like a pretty interesting character….

Also, I’m pretty sure this unused Vileblood facedata was his—

In a sense, this guys fits with how a lot of people imagine Bloody Crow. He’s got the pasty skin, red eyes, the long white hair (pony-tail style), the black circles that are probably eyeliner cuz he’s emo like that…

But I feel like they would have used this for Crow if it was him and not Leo. I also have a theory that the Crows were meant to remain faceless for a reason. Ciaran, an assassin with a similar aura in DS1, received the same unfortunate treatment. As much as I dislike it, I think maybe we weren’t ever meant to reveal the faces of the enigmatic assassins. Who knows.

Anyway back to Leo. I find his name interesting. So he’s a drifter? Like Yamamura? Maybe the two were friends then. Vagabonds stick together right? Ha. Plus, taking into consideration the Japanese connections within Cainhurst…well yeah, maybe they knew each other. It would be interesting to have this contrast though, because of Leo’s Vileblood heritage. Wouldn’t it be funny if they were in the League together too? I also think he must have been dead by the time we show up since Annalise is convinced there are no other Vilebloods besides you and her. Bloody Crow isn’t counted here. He’s special 🖤

My other theory about Leo is that he only poses as a drifter, and was actually a Cainhurst spy. Maybe one employed directly by Annalise. He could have kept an eye on Byrgenwerth and later the Church, before being killed or dying…somehow…

I also further appreciate the suggestion that recipient Vilebloods look a certain way. The red eyes and pale skin have to be a result of consumption of Annalise’s blood. Why else would he have red eyes? It also suggests that neither Iosefka or Arianna ever received the Queen’s blood directly even if they were distant relatives. Same with Maria. Meanwhile, this guy Leo was probably like us and was one of the special servants of the Queen that got his share of tainted blood. It must have changed his appearance.

I mean, it’s a theory for sure…but if you look at the portraits of the Cainhurst family, they all look relatively normal. I have a feeling they were simply relatives of the Queen, and though they may have had special blood like Maria or Arianna, they were still pretty natural looking. But the guards that carried out Annalise’s orders and longed to share in her blood? I don’t imagine they were very healthy looking if they ever received it, ha. That’s why I’m leaning more towards my theory that Leo was a servant of Annalise, and maybe a spy that moved from place to place. Either that, or he became a drifter after the Cainhurst genocide.

I dunno, peeps. All I know is that I’m obsessed with my idea that the Cainhurst nobles belonged to a big family that took in the forbidden blood, became incredibly long-lived, and eventually birthed Annalise, the first Undead Queen. It was her immortal blood that was most tainted and held an iron grip on the lower ranking classes of Cainhurst, aka the guard and the knights. That’s when the simping started and the blood dregs thing started off. On occasion, a few of these dreg hunters might have gotten exactly what they wanted and transformed into what Leo looks like. Basically a discount vampire.

After all, according to the cut “Queenly Blood,” the possibility wasn’t completely out of the question…

Leo…we know what you did you bastard…

[blxckdragonfly]

Darkness Finds You Saga Outtake #1

(Warning: None/Bit of Blood.

Pairing: Malakai Black x Lyra Crowe (FC: Mothica)

Synopsis: Lyra invites her Owlman and now friend, Benedict Cumberbatch to see the inside of the wrestling world)

AEW All Out- September 4th, 2022. Chicago, IL. 

We had about thirty minutes before MB, Brody and Buddy were taking on Darby Allin, Sting and Miro at All Out here in Chicago and tonight was going to be his last match for a while. I’d also decided to invite two very special guests to come see us perform for the very first time and that was Benedict and his wife, Sophie. 

They were backstage as we were getting ready. I slipped into a black faux leather halter crop top with matching faux leather leggings and a pair of heeled boots on my feet. 

I had the hair and make-up team put my hair up into a bun and had black eyeshadow and dark red lips, I also slipped a black shawl around my shoulders and put on a black fedora to give it more of a Stevie Nicks feel. 

I walk out of the locker room to see Malakai, Brody and Buddy standing in the hallway, talking. 

I take MB’s hand and pull him away for a second. “I think we should initiate two new members into the house,” I say. 

“Who might those be?” Malakai says and I shove him playfully, making him chuckle as I turn my head and shrug over at where Benedict and Sophie were sitting together, talking. 

He nods as he goes back into his locker room to grab one of his bandanas, kissing my cheek after whispering to Brody and Brody nods, walking away.  

“Hey, Owlman. Come here a moment,” I say as I wave my hand as I call Benedict by the nickname I gave him.  

Malakai returns with the bandana as Benedict walks over to us. I smile as I turn to face him. 

“There’s a reason why I called you over here, you see,” I told him as I took both ends of the bandana and I draped it around his neck so the scythes are pointing forward. I gently tied it around his neck. “Welcome to House of Black, my friend.” 

“I-I’m in House of Black?” Benedict asks. “Since when, exactly?” 

“Ever since the day you walked into my studio and became the creature known as Owlman for my album, you’ve always shown dedication towards The House.” I told him as Malakai nodded in agreement. 

“Well, it’s rather too bad that I couldn’t wear something like this back when I was doing Sherlock,” Benedict says and I hear Malakai’s chuckle in the background as he hands me a small box with the scythes on the front of it, inside contains his necklace with the Cernunnos mask on it. 

“This is for Sophie, as she is also a part of The House too.” I say, setting the box in Benedict’s hands. “And we also have something for your boys too. Brody?” 

Brody comes back and he has three shirts that he has on his right shoulder, he shows them off to Benedict. It’s the House of Black design with Malakai holding his hands out with his Janus mask. 

I watch as his face turns from shock to a look that seemed like he’d been touched. “Lyra…” 

“Hey, I told you before. You’ve shown dedication to The House. Therefore, we look after our own. You, Sophie and your family will always be our own.” I told him. 

“I don’t even have the words to tell you how much of an honor this is. I feel like saying thank you isn't enough but it is. Thank you." 

I smile as he embraces me in a hug and I pat Benedict on the shoulder. "Stick around, we're going to do our entrance and I promise you, it will be unlike anything you've ever seen, just watch the monitors. Ready, boys?" I say as Malakai, Brody and Buddy nod. I hear the beginning of the swamp sounds and we take off through the curtain.  

I take my place in front of the House of Black banner while the lights are out. The lights turn back on and there's a green light shining over the banner. 

I slowly lifted my arms to the side before raising my hand up and making the banner fall as Absent In Body starts to play, the boys standing beside me. 

"Accompanied by Lilith Czar, Buddy Matthews, Brody King, Malakai Black– House of Black!" 

Hearing the crowd cheer as the lights go out and we head toward the ring. The lights turn on and we're standing on the apron, Brody and Buddy on the turnbuckles. Lights turn off and turn on again as we're standing in the ring. 

Malakai hands me his mask after he's taken it off. 

After the match that we sadly lost, even though I tried to use my blood mist on Darby, which he had just been able to dodge, barely and during this match, Malakai did get torn open near his eye.

We walk back through the curtain and I grab a bottle of water to get the taste of the blood mist out of my mouth, red dripping down my chin. Benedict looks completely interested in everything and Sophie looks kind of squeamish. 

"Just so you know, the blood mist in my mouth is not real." I point at my chin, wiping it away before Malakai walks up behind me, placing a soft kiss on my temple and I point at the cut next to his eye, blood dripping. "This is real." 

"Does this always happen, blood being drawn in matches?" Benedict asks. 

"Not really, unless you're a main-eventer." As I said that, Jon Moxley walks by us and I make a gesture toward him. "Exhibit A." 

Mox hears me and he turns to face us before flipping me off, I start laughing. "Love you too, Moxley." 

"Yeah. Whatever, Lyra." He heads out to get ready for his and CM Punk's match as Benedict chuckles.

"Seems like a lot of you are friendly behind the scenes, like I am on set. Except when I did The Power of The Dog when I had to stay in character for most of the filming." 

"We try to be, yeah. It makes what you do more exciting when you have everyone applauding each other at the end of the day," I nod. 

"Hi, Lyra," I look over to see Dr. Britt Baker. She sees Benedict and her eyes widen. "Holy shit. You're…" 

"Maybe I should have worn a disguise here?" Benedict says. 

"No. A disguise wouldn't have mattered. I'd recognize your voice anywhere," Britt says with a laugh. 

"Here's Exhibit B of a main-eventer. Benedict, I'd like you to meet Dr. Britt Baker," 

I say as we both do her pointing gesture. "DMD. Britt, I assume you know Benedict Cumberbatch. This is his first AEW show. He came along to see all of us perform. We were speaking on the subject of blood in matches." 

"Is it really? Like Lyra said, us main-eventers do get torn open quite a bit. When it happened to me, it became a new development for my character on-screen," Britt explains as Benedict nods. "I started intertwining blood drips in my gear, my jacket, all of that." 

"I think you even had some blood red makeup looks too, right?" I ask and Britt nods. "See? Blood can be used as a creative tool. Britt's a great example of that." 

I gave Britt a side hug as she glanced over at Benedict and Sophie, extending her hand to shake his and embrace Sophie with her free arm. "Welcome to our AEW family." 

"Thank you, Britt. It's lovely to meet you," Sophie says. Britt nods as she walks off. 

"Alright. I think it's best if we get you out of the arena before anyone else in the locker room knows who you are." I say and Benedict nods, pulling up the House of Black bandana over his nose and mouth as Malakai, Brody and Buddy start snickering. "Hey. I'm trying to get him out of here. Zip it." 

I gesture for Benedict and Sophie to follow me out of the arena, I walk with them to the SUV parked outside and embrace them both in a goodbye before walking back inside. 

"Who was that, Lyra?" I see Toni Storm standing by the door. 

"Just some friends of mine," I say. 

"Hmph, cause I could have sworn I knew the guy in the bandana." I sigh and shrug. 

Oh well, at least they've got to see The House of Black perform. 

Tagging: @xbreezymeadowsmunsonx (who loved MB and Lyra once upon a time) and of course my co-writer @blackrose-92 🖤

[agentrouka-blog]

I find hilarious how Jonerice shippers use Dany's nightmare about men with cold manhood as the evidence for their ship, it is more likely that was Euron since we know he likes to play with black magic and unironcly he happends to be just her type lmao, i mean he is like a perfect dissasterus mix beetwen Dario and Drogo

Yeah, the bruised blue lips are a Euron Greyjoy special.

"King Crow's Eye, brother." Euron smiled. His lips looked very dark in the lamplight, bruised and blue. (AFFC, The Iron Captain)

King Crow's Eye.

Euron turned to face him, his bruised blue lips curled in a half smile. "Perhaps we can fly. All of us. How will we ever know unless we leap from some tall tower?" The wind came gusting through the window and stirred his sable cloak. There was something obscene and disturbing about his nakedness. "No man ever truly knows what he can do unless he dares to leap." (AFFC, The Reaver)

Obscenely naked?

Beneath her coverlets she tossed and turned, dreaming that Hizdahr was kissing her … but his lips were blue and bruised, and when he thrust himself inside her, his manhood was cold as ice. (ADWD, Daenerys VII)

I mean. It's not exactly... a sensual image, if you will. This is not happy foreshadowing.

Euron is the most obvious candidate, but not the only one. Blue lips in general are a warning sign.

The merchant prince sat up sharply. "Pyat Pree has blue lips, and it is truly said that blue lips speak only lies." (ACOK, Daenerys III)

"Blue lips speak only lies, isn't that what Xaro told you? Why do you care what the warlocks whispered? All they wanted was to suck the life from you, you know that now." (ACOK, Daenerys V)

Euron is happy to lie to a certain young bastard girl:

Euron put his blue lips to her throat, and the girl giggled and whispered something in his ear. Smiling, he kissed her throat again. Her white skin was covered with red marks where his mouth had been; they made a rosy necklace about her neck and shoulders. Another whisper in his ear, and this time the Crow's Eye laughed aloud, then slammed his wine cup down for silence. (AFFC, The Reaver)

He will end up cutting out Falia's tongue and tying her to the prow of his ship alongside Aeron.

But there is someone else coming in to advise Dany.

"It was Lemore who forced the water from your lungs after Griff had pulled you up. You were as cold as ice, and your lips were blue. Yandry said we ought to throw you back, but the lad forbade it." (ADWD, Tyrion VI)

Euron or Tyrion, neither are great news.

"Not all your enemies are in the Yellow City. Beware men with cold hearts and blue lips." (ADWD, Daenerys III)

I think Dany may actually be a little wary of Euron for this reason. But like with the Undying, Dany may not be able to resist what he offers her. At first.

With Tyrion, she may never quite see it coming.

[shepherds-of-haven]

If characters had a Game of Thrones style house banner and motto, what would they be?

Ooh, this is an interesting one!

House Bronwyn: "The Darkness Answers" or "Weapons in the Silent Night" - a silver wolf on a field of black, with a white blade piercing the background. Their house is known for operating as a kind of shadow military that influences and directs things from the shadows, and although the wolf has connotations of solitude and aloofness, they are actually extremely loyal "pack-animals" who form a tight-knit clan and unwaveringly answer the call of duty... no matter how bloody their hands may get from answering.

House Alder: "First in the Charge" or "Our Fury Shakes Them" - a gold lion roaring rampant on a field of red (so, yeah, Gryffindor I guess!). This one is fairly self-explanatory--the Alder house is known by others to produce some of the fiercest and most courageous warriors, though they also have a reputation for being brash and hot-headed. Alder soldiers are always sent in to "hold the line" and are infamous for never abandoning the field or retreating, even when it leads to certain death. "Our Fury Shakes Them" also refers to their propensity to use cannon-fire and gun blasts to destroy their enemies.

House Ironwood: "Our Roots Run Deep" or "The First, The Last, The Eternal" - a golden oak tree on a forest-green banner with a trim of autumn red. Their house is among the oldest and was once known as one of the most powerful military forces on the Continent, with a cadre of skilled Elven knights being produced by that house, but as time went on and the world changed, the house fell into semi-obscurity or became more known for its archival work and love of history, causing some to look down on it as a house of scholars. Whenever they try to invoke the promises and alliances of old, others roll their eyes at House Ironwood's unwillingness to change and adapt to the world around it. As a result, House Ironwood tends to isolate itself from other houses, swearing only to trust their own kind. Their current scion gets them into a lot of trouble for challenging an heir of a Norm house to a duel for slandering the name of House Ironwood, and then killing him in the ensuing standoff. This has led to military reprisals against House Ironwood, and they find themselves in a precarious position of being surrounded by enemies and having isolated former friends.

House Acquell: "Faith is a Shield and Love the Cure" or "Many Hearts Beating as One" - a Celtic-looking knot or a chain of hands interlocking around a heart. This house is looked down upon by more militaristic houses for being a generally trusting, pacifistic house. Its holdings are small and its lineage is quite new, but the house is beloved by its own people due to its scions working as healers, clerics, and devotees of charity, often seen among the streets of their city and passing out food and coin. House Acquell is an extremely religious house, and many of its heirs and heiresses join the Church to become priests and priestesses. The founder of the house was first canonized as a saint.

House Syndran: "Out of Cruelty, Justice" or "The Cunning Conquer" - a black crow or raven spreading its wings on a field of royal purple. This house was built on mercantile roots, but its influence now stretches far and wide, reaching into all matters of business, politics, intrigue, and even war. Its scions are famed for their ruthlessness and willingness to go completely scorched-earth on their enemies, and for their ability to lie and manipulate even nominal allies with completely straight faces. The house leader always bears a gold-capped walking cane. Although its military power is weak, it makes up for it with the host of allies under its economic control. You can always make out the Syndrans at a party by the cadre of serious-faced, dark-haired heirs staring at the proceedings like they're a play under watchful critique. Although not known for being friendly, House Syndran also prides itself on impeccable etiquette and manners.

House Trinaeste: "If I Am Not Free, Then I Am Dead" or "Many Skills, Many Virtues" - a black cat on a field of gold, with two crossed daggers in the background and a key lying at its feet. The "Many Skills, Many Virtues" motto is something of an in-joke, because this house is known for its willingness to train its heirs in even unsavory skills--such as thievery and seduction--in order to ensure their survival. Many heirs are sent to special training at a secret academy on an island south of Conte--though what they are taught there, no one but the Trinaestes knows for sure. As such, this house is shunned by many for its unorthodox values and behavior, and not much is known about the inner workings of the house itself. The heirs and heiresses all seem like empty-headed fops who love to chase skirts (or whatever article of clothing they so desire), so no one ever takes them seriously... but that's their mistake, because House Trinaeste actually has the greatest network of spymasters and intelligence operatives this world has ever seen. They apparently have a lot of bastard children or sometimes even unrelated orphans whom they happily accept into their house anyway, which is another reason why the other houses shun them. They also supposedly have some ties to seafarers and pirates as well as a fleet of ships at their disposal.

House Antiqua: "The Road Not Taken" or "The World to Roam" - a golden globe on a field of deep scarlet/maroon/magenta, though from certain angles, the globe can also like the sun or moon (or all three). House Antiqua is composed of just straight up scholars. Sometimes a second son or a third daughter goes into military service or serves in a great battle and makes a distinction of themselves, but it's never on the level of an Alder, Bronwyn, Aescar, or Stormbreaker. By and large, they're known as a house of oddly-attractive, well-born nerds, more fodder for marriages and families rather than candidates that could bring about great change. They don't really get much of a say in anything among the greater houses, but that suits them just fine. They're like the classic Jane Austen-style families where they just hang out and read books and entertain visitors sometimes LMAO. They are neither very rich nor destitute; neither isolated nor up in everyone's business. They are on friendly terms with most houses, but no one takes them all that seriously when it comes to important matters like war or politics. They are known to serve as advisors and consultants in times of need, however. Many of their heirs leave the house and travel across the world using secret identities when they reach a certain age; it's something of a cliché among their inner circle. They eventually develop strong ties to House Syndran after one son casually beats the Syndran heir in chess during a party.

House Aescar: "The Wind is With Us" or "It Is Us Who Fly" - a tan flying eagle with a serpent-like staff clutched in its talons, soaring on a field of light blue. House Aescar is known for its terrifying use of theatrics in order to instill fear into the hearts of their enemies on the battlefield. They utilize war paint, war chants and screams, and unsettling war horns in order to rev up their soldiers before battle. Like House Alder, they have a reputation for not having a head for politics; they'd prefer you to just point them at the enemy and let them do their thing, and they have little patience for the trappings of politics and diplomacy. If the Continent were divided up into wards where certain houses were in charge of defending the borders from invasion, House Aescar would be the guardians of the West; House Prince, House Ironwood, and House Bronwyn would the guardians of the North; House Stormbreaker, House Trinaeste, and House Syndran would be the guardians of the South; and House Alder, House Antiqua, and House Naveen would be the guardians of the East. The fact that House Aescar is tasked with guarding the West alone is a point of pride for its heirs and scions. The youth of the house tends to be charged with going on a pilgrimage throughout their lands to observe how the common folk live. They are expected to return with worthwhile thoughts or findings about how to improve the house or its holdings, and if their opinions are interesting and well-thought-out, they are allowed a voice in the house's governing council.

House Prince: "Keepers of the North" or "Righteous in Wrath" or "Darkness Flees Our Light" - a white spear with a white shield behind it, radiating rays of light on a field of black. Not much is known about House Prince, except that its current heirs are a set of twin boys. Its military force is known for being utterly loyal, almost to the point of fanaticism, and the house has close ties to House Bronwyn due to their proximity to each other. House Prince is known among the other houses for being insistent on keeping its bloodlines pure and marrying its heirs to the Hunter scions of other close-knit families or even distant cousins, leading some to joke surreptitiously that the house is "incestuous." At one point in time, the older twin heir of the current generation disappeared for a year or two, forcing his brother to assume the guise of both twins to prevent the house from looking weaker to its outside enemies. Certain heirs of the Prince House are said to be cursed with a mysterious affliction that causes them to fall into fits of madness and rage, especially at the sight of blood, and for these reasons, many of them live in reclusive isolation in their castle, rarely seen by the outside world.

House Stormbreaker: "Thunder and Lightning" or "The Storm Stands Vigilant" or "From the Stars We Came, To the Stars We Rise" - a golden, starry ship sailing on a teal sea as lightning splits the banner in half and a dragon swims underneath the ship. House Stormbreaker is among the most sought-after houses for its explosive military prowess and strength, affording it a lot of political and negotiating power. Its heirs and scions are known to be gifted with extraordinary strength and a strange knack for avoiding almost certain death, serving with distinction as battlemasters, generals, and occasionally as knights and champions. A legendary sword is said to be passed from leader to leader, with no one but those of pure Stormbreaker blood being able to even pick the sword up. They are also known as a clan of sailors and are able to deploy their own naval fleet to defend the coastline as needed. Although they have a ferocious, proud, and hot-tempered reputation, heirs of the Stormbreaker house are sometimes not taken seriously in matters of court due to their strange pink hair. Despite this, scions of House Stormbreaker are among the most sought-after candidates for marriage, as people desire their mysterious superstrength and magic to be incorporated into their own houses. However, for reasons unknown, the House Stormbreaker is extremely strict with such marriages, and arrangements are often made three or more generations ahead of time in a careful curation of the bloodline.

House Naveen: "Gold in Peace, Steel in War" or "Not Without Thorns" - a scarlet rose on a field of lavender with two crossed rapiers in the background. House Naveen is the most powerful and influential of all of the Houses when it comes to sheer political power, rivalled only by House Syndran. Its military strength is only better than average, but its holdings, wealth, and political connections are vast and storied. Its current heiress is infamous for refusing suitors and continually denying her father's attempts to secure a marriage, focusing instead on joining chivalric orders and continually maneuvering situations in House Naveen's favor. House Naveen holds the honor of being among the last houses to continue ancient traditions such as jousting and knightly tournaments, but it's their celebrations and social occasions that the house is truly known for. The Naveens are said to employ a spy in the servants of every house aside from House Bronwyn, Prince, and Ironwood. What they do with that information, however, no one knows. On the surface, the Naveen house seems to be largely magnanimous and benign... Interestingly, they have offered an extension of aid to House Ironwood to get out of its dueling problem, but so far, House Ironwood has not given a reply.

House Naveen has also been largely matriarchal in the past, something that still informs its power structure to this day. This makes it a target of scorn by other powerful and male-led noble houses (such as House Eddon, Auberon's house), but it's something that the Naveens flaunt proudly with the rose as their insignia!

[youllallriseintheink]

A Coven of Blood

Another light one this week. Next week I’ll finish “A Dark Revival.” But in the meantime, enjoy Susie and Allison as vampires!

Fair warning that the beginning is a little dark.

---

Susie loved the night. Always had. Back in her cozy little hometown, she had loved taking moonlit walks whenever she couldn't sleep. Now, she lived in New York, where doing something terrible didn’t mean you were doing it to the butcher’s daughter from two blocks down, and the nights were a very dangerous time for a small, guileless young woman like herself.

It had been a few  years living before Allison had given Susie her nights back by allowing her a “free trial” of sorts on a special kind of midnight magic.

Tonight was a moonless night, which meant that Susie’s eyes were at their sharpest. She strutted through the bad side of town in the short, red dress she’d bought just for this occasion. With her enhanced hearing, she heard a man who seemed to be trailing her. She turned into the nearest back ally, went in fairly deep, and stopped. His boots crunched against gravel- he was running now, thinking this was his chance. He was closing in. Susie turned to face her would-be attacker- a tall, well-built man- grabbed his arm, and effortlessly threw him against a wall.

Closing in on the the terrified man, Susie exposed her fangs. She only preyed upon people who deserved it, and she liked to make them suffer a little. The fangs slid effortlessly into her victim’s neck, and before long, he was bled dry and lying limp on the dirty ground.

Now satiated, Susie made her instantaneous transformation into a bat and took to the sky. The apartment she shared with Allison was a way off, but it was faster to get there as the crow flies. With grace, she glided in through an open window and turned back into her human self.

“We’re going to be late,” Allison chided, but she was smiling. Allison was wearing a long, black dress that looked like it was from the Victorian era, but for some reason Allison had picked out a practical outfit for Susie and draped it across the bed.

“Sorry, I just wanted to have some blood in me for tonight. You know, since I don’t know what kind of test this is.” And what an important test it was. This was the test that would decide whether Susie was allowed to remain a vampire. “So, uh, what’s with the clothes?

“Don’t worry,” Allison assured her, “You’ll get to wear a dress there, but you’re going to want something to change into once it’s time for your test. Oh, and there’ll be blood at the party. Sorry I didn’t tell you that earlier. I’ll meet up with you downstairs once you’re all dressed up.”

Susie followed Allison’s lead on how to dress. Red lipstick, pale foundation, heavy mascara. She didn’t actually know how vampires tended to dress, but she wanted to fit in. When she met up with Allison, a cab was already waiting, and they got into the back seat.

“Not feeling confident about tonight?” Allison asked, noticing that Susie’s hands were shaking.

“Not really. Is it a hard test?”

“To be honest, I don’t know,” Allison answered, “I know what they’ll have you do, but I’m not a high enough rank to know how they grade things, or how much I passed by. Anyhow, for the rest of the car trip, I need you to wear this.” Allison produced a blindfold from her purse. “Only the initiated are allowed to know where we meet.”

Susie obeyed her, even though the blindfold made her even more nervous for the meeting. Allison did her best to keep her calm- holding her hand and making small talk as the drive went on. It was strange- she and Allison were always open with each other about the good and bad of being a vampire, but she always made it seem like the others were this unknowable, cloak-and-dagger group, even to her. Allison was a fairly low-ranking vampire, after all.

After forty minutes and a number of twists and turns, the cab stopped, and Allison took off Susie’s blindfold. They were at a beautiful house. The musty wooden door and window frames suggested that it was very old, but the marble shone- it was clearly very well-maintained, and looked big enough to house many families. It might have, for all Susie knew.

Inside of it, a dinner party was going on. There were dozens of people who had been transformed at every age. Men, women, middle-aged, young adult, and even some eternal children who dressed and acted as miniature adults. All of them were wearing Victorian clothing. As Allison had promised, there was blood, along with a number of other delectable-looking foods and drinks being served. Allison led Susie to a table with a few people sitting at it.

“So, you’re the new girl, huh? Allison’s convert,” one of them, a leather-faced old woman, asked Susie.

“Yep. That’s me!”

“Nice to meet you, Susie. I’m Viola. Transformed in 1893.”

“My best friend,” Allison explained, “We grew up in the same era.” With that, Allison and Viola started complaining about modern fashion compared to how it was when they were mortal. It was strange, Susie thought, how meaningless the appearance of age was here. A person who looked twenty-something could be completely cut off from modern culture, and an old, frail-looking vampire could outrun and outfight any mortal.

At the far end of the room, there was a table with two people sitting at it, looking over all the others like a king and queen. They were less humanlike than the others- sheet-white skin, pointed ears, yellow eyes, and even some small horns on the woman. They were most definitely the leaders, Susie thought.

About thirty minutes in to the dinner party, the woman tapped her glass with her spoon to get everyone’s attention.

“Good evening everyone,” the vampire woman began. In addition to looking unnatural, she was also the most beautiful woman Susie had ever seen. Unlike everyone else in their old-fashioned dresses, she was clad in a dark blue cloak and a modern red suit. “We have a new recruit in our midst. Will Susie Campbell and Allison Pendle please step up to our table?”

The two of them walked up to meet the woman in red.

“As I’m sure you know, Susie, we cannot let just anyone in if our secrecy is to last. We must ensure that you are doing this of your own free will, and that you are a proficient vampire. So. Do you, Susie Campbell, agree to be a vampire forever? Say no, and we can reverse the process entirely and void your memory of our existence. Say ‘no, and she forced me,’ and we’ll wipe her memories of you as well.”

Susie grabbed onto Allison’s arm. “I want to be a vampire forever,” she said.

The woman in red smiled. “Excellent. In that case, let the test begin. Allison will take the form of a cat and have ten minutes to run off into the city. Your job is to use all of your new powers to find and catch her. She won’t go easy on you, because you don’t have to catch her to pass, and you won’t necessarily pass if you catch her. This is merely our opportunity to evaluate your skills. In other words, it isn’t whether you win or lose- it’s how you play the game.”

“Best of luck,” Allison said before taking her cat form- that of a Siamese.

Minutes later, Susie was out in the streets. Even in her human form, her sense of smell was enhanced from a human’s, and the fact that she couldn’t tell where Allison was suggested that she was quite far away. She remembered to slip into an alley before taking her bat form- she wasn’t supposed to let mere mortals see her transformation. The next several minutes were spent flying from block to block, switching from bat form for its ease of movement to human form to try and detect Allison by sight or smell. Above her was a flock of ravens, bats, and moths- the vampires watching her.

Suddenly, a smell overwhelmed Susie. Cat’s blood. Would Allison actually go this easy on her? Susie’s stomach churned at the thought of what the elder vampires might think, but it would be worse to not to follow the clue. And so she followed it into a back alley. She could hear the hissing of two cats, fighting behind a dumpster. Not Allison, surely, but she ran over anyhow, and found that it was indeed two mangy strays, one of which was bleeding from one leg. Not her Allison. Crows cawed mockingly overhead. Susie squeezed her eyes tight and tried not to cry.

Mow, came the voice of a third cat, who had just jumped on to the rim of the dumpster. Susie lifted her head to look at it. Allison. She hadn’t gone easy on her- she’d disguised her smell to make things even more difficult. The cat jumped on Susie’s head and then took off down the back alley at a sprint. Susie took after her. She was gaining on her as she skidded out from the back alley and into the crowded downtown. It was no use. Allison reached a tree outside the back alley and began climbing it. Even with her enhanced strength, Susie highly doubted she could climb as fast as a cat, and with subtlety being one of the things she was being evaluated on, it probably wouldn’t help her pass, either. The cat lept from the tree onto the second-story roof of one of the shops. Susie knew now what she had to do.

Once she was hidden away once again in the the back alley, Susie turned to bat form once again and flew to the roof. The cat was there, waiting for her with glowing eyes. Once Susie’s feet hit the tiles, it bolted, and the chase was on. It lasted a good two minutes, with the two of them jumping from rooftop to rooftop, climbing when necessary. But she caught the damn cat in her arms, and none too soon- much further and the street would have ended, and knowing Allison, she would have jumped off the roof.

Two crows landed in front of Susie, who was still crouching with the cat in her arms, and they took human form again.

“Release the cat,” the man commanded, “we haven’t seen enough.”

The woman in red put a hand on his arm. “No. I think I have seen enough. Susie, Allison, you’ve done it. Let’s go back to the Estate. We’ll lead the way.”

With that, they did. Once they were back, Susie was given the potion that would make her vampirism permanent. Allison was given a dose, too, to represent that by bringing in a newcomer, she had gone up a rank in vampire society herself. The two of them stayed at the party until dawn came, knowing that they’d have eternity to spend together.

[hiccanna-tidbits]

SURPRISE BITCH I BET YOU THOUGHT YOU SAW THE LAST OF SAPPHIC JACKUNZEL

ABSOLUTELY NOT

FEM!JACK AND LESBIAN RAPUNZEL MY BELOVED

Anyways I was absolutely obligated by law to make a sequel to this at some point! I was wondering what kind of ballgown fem!Jack would wear to a fancy party or some other special event, and then this happened. Rapunzel wears lavendar/lilac when she dresses up nicely, of course!

***

“Come on, Jaina! You can come out now.”

“No!” An annoyed voice drifted out from behind the floral-painted changing board. “I just look so...so glitzy. I can’t deal with this.”

Rapunzel sighed deeply, leaning against the wall and running her fingers through the lavender chiffron of her skirt. “This whole thing was your idea. Don’t back out on me now.”

Jaina must have thought Rapunzel was blind if she didn’t think Rapunzel noticed the way the white-haired girl had always paused at the door to the closet, staring longingly at Rapunzel’s collection of dresses. They weren’t anything particularly special--mostly just casual wear, with a few nicer gowns that she had gotten as past birthday gifts. Nonetheless, Jaina looked at the bright, rippling waves of pink, green, purple, and blue like they were an especially tantalizing chocolate cake.

Rapunzel supposed it made sense that Jaina was drawn to them, since her normal look was not exactly the most colorful. Every time Rapunzel saw her, she had on the same plain brown dress, wrapped around the middle and the bottom of the skirt with dark red bands. She had a cape that she wore with it--one that she never failed to wave wildly about when she was being excessively dramatic, but was nonetheless equally brown. The most color she ever added to it was a dark blue sweatshirt she wore over her dress from time to time, although even that was fairly modest.

Still, it had come as a surprise when they’d been lying on Rapunzel’s bed, deciding on a lunch recipe, and Jaina had made her suggestion apropros to nothing.

“We should play dress-up with your nice clothes sometime. You know, just for the hell of it. It’s not like you’ll actually be needing any of that stuff for castle balls, so we might as well.”

And here Jaina was now, inexplicably nervous about Rapunzel seeing her in the fancy outfit she had requested to wear.

“Come on, Jai,” Rapunzel said, her voice softening. “I’m sure you look wonderful.”

“No, I’m--it’s weird! I don’t know!” Jaina’s voice cracked slightly, showing the first trace of fear. “I’m not supposed to look glamorous. I’m a little shit.”

Rapunzel shook her head. “You are not a little shit. No matter how much you try to be.”

“Hey! Take that back!”

Rapunzel giggled. “Well, the Jaina Frost I know would never be so much of a coward that she can’t handle her best friend seeing her in a different outfit.”

“Okay, okay! I’m coming out.”

As soon as Jaina stepped into the light, Rapunzel had to remember how to breathe.

Her skirt, billowing around her like the stream of a fountain, was a deep blue--like the very last glimmer of twilight before giving way to inky black. Silver-white glitter was dusted across the dark folds, glinting like stars. It trailed up to wrap the bodice completely, making Jaina look like she’d been dipped in moonlight.

Her hair was no surprise--Rapunzel had helped her to do it earlier. Rapunzel had weaved the braid crown now trailing over the tops of Jaina’s ears, and curled it into a rippling bun hanging from the back of her head. The braids were secured in place by a delicate line of silvery ice leaves--a little adornment Jaina had added for flare.

Nevertheless, seeing it together with the dress...

Jaina was gleaming, brighter than any of the lanterns Rapunzel had ever seen on her birthday. Brighter than the moon itself.

For a long moment, Rapunzel couldn’t speak.

“Do I look that stupid?” Rapunzel snapped out of her stupor at the sound of Jaina’s mumble. Her friend was looking anywhere but at her, cheeks slowly deepening to a bright pink.

“No, no!” Rapunzel shook her head rapidly, lifting her hands to try and reassure her friend. “You look--I just--I wasn’t ready for it. You look really beautiful, Jaina.”

“You think so?” Jaina’s voice slipped into uncharacteristic timidness--a timidness Rapunzel hasn’t heard since she kissed Jaina for the first time.

They had exchanged a few kisses since. They'd both been certain they liked it, and they hadn’t seen any reason not to try again. Every time, Rapunzel’s stomach felt like it was zipping around at great speeds, and she often wondered if she’d find herself floating up into the air like Jaina could.

Still, they had never talked about what it actually meant. Jaina had never brought up the topic, and Rapunzel had never asked.

She supposed some part of her was terrified to find out. Some part of her was terrified delving too deep into this would drive a stake into the only (human) friendship she’d ever had.

Rapunzel’s smile widened. “I know so.”

“It’s just...” Jaina bit her lip. “When I rose out of the ice, I wasn’t wearing--well, I wasn’t wearing anything like this. I don’t really know who I was before I was Jaina Frost--or if I was ever even technically human--but if I was, I sure as hell don’t think I was one of the fancy, well-off ones. I guess it just feels...wrong to wear stuff like this. Like I don’t belong in it.”

“I can’t see how,” Rapunzel argued. “You pull it off spectacularly. If anyone was made for that dress, it’s you.”

“I don’t know.” Jaina’s eyes darted around uncertainly. “It just feels like I don’t deserve to wear something this nice. Like I’m breaking some unspoken elegant clothing rule.”

“Well, you’ve never been above a little mischief.” Rapunzel smirked. “Seems like that would be right up your alley.”

“Yeah. Actually.” Jaina broke into a smirk of her own. “Maybe you’re right.”

She whooped and spun around, skirt fanning out like waves of night sky. Rapunzel felt her chest start to rise up like a drifting bubble.

Jaina really was far cuter than she had any right to be, and it frustrated Rapunzel to no end. It set all manner of emotions loose in her, many of them unbearably confusing.

“Yeah!” Jaina crowed, pumping her fist in the air. “The world is not ready for how fancy I am!”

Rapunzel couldn’t help but laugh. “No, no they aren’t!”

“For the record, though...” Jaina turned back to her, smile growing a little more shy. “I still think you look better.”

Rapunzel’s hand strayed to her hair, sprigs of wildflowers Jaina had picked sticking out of the loose braid. “Thank you. Although credit where credit is due--the flowers were your idea.”

Jaina giggled. Evening sunlight streamed in through the open window, washing the little circular room in extravagant gold. Lit from the back, Jaina’s hair glowed softly, making her look like some kind of ethereal princess.

Struck with a sudden idea, Rapunzel smiled and strode forward, extending a hand.

“Excuse me, beautiful lady. May I have this dance?”

Jaina spluttered, suddenly unable to form a complete sentence. Her cheeks turned a shade of pink to rival some of Rapunzel’s best dresses. “Huh, wh--wha--”

“Wait, wait! I know how to make it even better!”

Without waiting for Jaina to collect herself, Rapunzel rushed over to her dresser. She grabbed the enormous flower vase in the center (Mother had picked her an especially extravagant collection and brought them as a gift the other day) and quickly sifted through it, grabbing out several and gathering them into a bunch.

She sauntered over to Jaina, holding out the bundle. Petals drifted to the floor behind her, snowy white and deep blue rimmed with cyan.

“For you, fair maiden.”

Jaina blinked. “You matched my dress,” she said stupidly. “And my hair.”

Rapunzel smiled. “Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to match mine. Mother didn’t bring me as many daffodils as she usually does.”

Jaina stared at the flowers, expression unreadable. Something inside Rapunzel wilted.

“Do you--do you not want them? I mean, you don’t have to--”

Without warning, Jaina snatched the bouquet away, glowering at her. Apparently, she had been very concerned Rapunzel was about to change her mind.

Jaina leaned down, slowly inhaling and taking a long whiff of the faint floral scent. Suddenly she flung her arms into the air, sending the flowers careening up the the ceiling and floating down in a lazy, drifting rain.

Rapunzel glanced up at the scattering bouquet, and then back at Jaina. “What--”

“I was just setting the mood.” Jaina smirked. “Of course I’ll dance with you, idiot.”

Beaming, Rapunzel held out a hand again. Jaina slid her own on top of it, and they sauntered to the top of the stairwell with petals fluttering down all around them.

As they reached the small landing, Rapunzel felt her eyes dart to Jaina’s. Her friend’s eyes had slipped shut, lips curled up in a soft, tranquil smile.

Another idea seizing her, Rapunzel let her hand drift off of Jaina’s. She reached down, slipping one hand onto Jaina’s thigh and the other onto her lower back and scooping her up like a bride.

“Wh--RAE!” Jaina spluttered, legs dangling helplessly over Rapunzel’s arm and cheeks turning redder than some of Mother’s best gowns. “What are you doing?”

“I’m sweeping you off your feet!” Rapunzel beamed proudly. “You know, like the knights do in the stories?”

“Put me down!” Jaina huffed. “I’m not a damsel in distress!”

“Very well, if you don’t want to get a free ride down the stairs.”

As Rapunzel started to lower Jaina to the ground, she felt a hand swat her stomach.

“No, don’t actually! I’m just not used to being pampered. I usually have to take care of myself.”

Rapunzel looked down at the girl resting in her arms, and her heart suddenly broke.

Maybe this was the first time someone had been this soft with Jaina in over a century. Or three.

“I could take card of you, you know,” Rapunzel said softly. “If you let me.”

In response, Jaina rested her head against Rapunzel’s side and laid a timid hand on Rapunzel’s chest. “How are you even able to do this, anyways?” she grumbled.

Rapunzel giggled. “Pulling your mother up the side of an 80-foot tower every day for over 10 years doesn’t exactly leave you with weak arms.”

Jaina smiled weakly up at her. “Good point.”

“Can I--can I carry you down the stairwell?” It was almost embarrassing, how much eagerness Rapunzel felt creeping into her voice. “Like I see the princes do with the princesses in the pictures in my books?”

“Ew!” Jaina snorted. “Like I’d want some snobby king-to-be anywhere near me.”

“I know, but I don’t think you have to be a prince to do it,” Rapunzel retorted, voice rising into a slight whine. “Come on! They always look so happy in the pictures. I thought maybe we could be happy like that, too.”

Jaina pressed the back of a hand to her forehead and let out a dramatic sigh. “Very well. If you must.”

Jaina Frost wasn’t heavy--she was as light as winter wind, even with Rapunzel having to balance her way down the stairs. From the way she was nestled into Rapunzel’s chest when they reached the bottom, the blonde concluded that Jaina couldn’t have minded too much to be carried like a delicate princess--even if Jaina’s cheeks were now more scarlet-tinted than Rapunzel had ever seen them.

“Now, I know it’s tempting, but don’t fall asleep here,” Rapunzel teased. “We still need to dance.”

Jaina grinned. “Oh, I wouldn’t miss it for anything. As much as I am enjoying these big, strong arms of yours.”

“Don’t worry, you haven’t seen the last of them.”

“Wait, hold on, Rae. Let me add a finishing touch.”

Jaina lifted a hand and a blue-white beam shot out, zipping toward the tower roof. It hit the ceiling with a small crack, and a gleaming white chandelier sprung from the boards. Rapunzel watched in wonder as thin rings of ice grew down in concentric circles, rimmed in dangling white bulbs and curved icicles.

“Wow,” she breathed. “It’s…it’s beautiful.”

Jaina beamed proudly. “No castle ball’s complete without an over-the-top ceiling light, right? Now we’re ready to go.”

Rapunzel started to lower her arms, and Jaina leaped out of them like a spring hare. Her dress swirled around her as she turned to face Rapunzel, this time being the one to extend her hand.

“May I have this dance, Princess Rapunzel?”

Rapunzel laughed, and took Jaina Frost’s hand. “You flatter me too much. But yes.”

They took the floor, and they moved like liquid. Jaina took the lead, surprisingly confident for someone who had been blushing up a storm mere minutes ago. For anyone watching, it would have been impossible to tell that for countless decades, Jaina’s only dance partner had undoubtedly been herself. She spun and twirled and twisted and leaped, and at first Rapunzel felt herself breathing hard as she tried to keep up. At one point, Jaina even grabbed a rose from a vase on the windowsill, frosting it over before tossing it up to hold in her teeth. (Rapunzel seriously doubted the move was meant for anything other than showing off, but she didn’t mind.) It didn’t last long--during one particularly long twirl a few minutes later, Jaina snatched the rose from her mouth and flung it out the window in only the most overdramatic sweep of her arm.

It didn’t take long for Rapunzel to get the hang of the movements, though. In barely any time she was spinning around as fast as Jaina, weaving about the room with similar grace. They joined hands and let go again, pulling together and apart only in rhythm to a soft tune Rapunzel hummed. From time to time, Jaina stopped to twirl Rapunzel under her arm. Rapunzel, in a few moments of daring, dipped Jaina steeply toward the ground before pulling her up again at the last second.

For a long while, the dance was bouncy and energetic, rippling across the floor lit by nothing but the gleam of dying sunlight off of Jaina’s chandelier and the soft glow of summer fireflies drifting through the window. It could only be so long before the girls’ feet grew tired, though, and the tempo slowed down until they were just holding each other and gradually swaying from side to side.

There was moonlight in Jaina’s smile, and her eyes were softer than Rapunzel had ever seen them. When she spoke, Rapunzel was entirely unprepared for it.

“I’m in love with you.”

Rapunzel didn’t stop dancing. She couldn’t, too caught up in the rhythm of their movements. Still, she was sure her eyes flew open wide enough to rival those of her bulging-eyed chameleon companion.

It was a strange thing to suddenly (and dramatically) declare. Rapunzel wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“Well, of course we love each other,” Rapunzel said. “We’re friends.”

“No, I mean...” Jaina sighed. “I’m in love with you like the fairy tales. Like the princes who carry the princesses down the stairs. Like the big, elaborate royal weddings with 16-layer cakes. I’m in love with you like...I’d marry you, if I could. If you wanted to.”

The words enveloped Rapunzel like a snowstorm.

She was silent for several moments, trying to sort out her racing thoughts. Jaina loved her. Jaina loved her.

So that’s what all the kisses meant.

“Mother says girls don’t marry girls,” was all Rapunzel managed to get out. “I asked her about it when I was 10.”

“I know they don’t.” Jaina’s voice hardened. “I don’t care.”

“But will it--” Rapunzel’s voice broke, sudden anxiety gripping her. “Will things have to change? Will we not be able to be friends like we used to be?”

Jaina smiled, seeming to relax a little. “Nothing’s going to change, except that I’m giving you the opportunity to kiss me more frequently, if you’re interested. And we don’t have to be weird about it when we do.”

Rapunzel looked over Jaina. The snowy hair. The crystalline dress. The sparkling, mischievous eyes. The skip in her step and the lightness of her laugh. The energy that followed her when she zipped around Rapunzel’s room and painted tapestries of snowflakes in her wake. The way she stumbled through Rapunzel’s bedroom window with her arms overloaded with books, all on Rapunzel’s favorite topics. The way she’d practically shout “You’ll never be bored again!” while chucking the entire pile at Rapunzel.

The way she made Rapunzel feel like she had everything she could possibly want without even setting one foot out of her tower.

Rapunzel smiled, because now that she thought of it, there was no other possible way she could have imagined this going. It was clear as the stars on Jaina’s skirt, and everything clicked into place at once.

“I’m in love with you too,” she murmured.

Rapunzel pulled Jaina in, and kissed her slowly in the blinking shimmer of fireflies.

***

They sat on the windowsill well into the night--legs brushing, hands interlaced, Rapunzel’s head coming to rest on Jaina’s shoulder. The fireflies, still flitting about the summer evening, were backlit only by the faint light of a rising moon. Rapunzel gazed off into the dark treetops, sighing.

“They’re so beautiful,” she murmured. “I wish I could see them closer up. The fireflies, the trees, the lanterns...everything.”

“You know I’d take you if you wanted,” Jaina reminded her. “I’m always up for a little jaunt. And honestly, the whole world’s out there waiting for you. Seems like kind of a waste to hide from it in here, especially when I’m sure you’d love it.”

“I know. But Mother--”

“--doesn’t have to know,” Jaina finished. “Didn’t she go to some neighboring kingdom for that one special kind of perfume, anyways? You told me she won’t be back for a couple days.”

“Right. But...” Rapunzel bit her lip. “It’s dangerous outside.”

“Anyone gives you trouble, I can just fly us away. Remember?”

Jaina pulled away, leaving Rapunzel looking after her with a pout. She stood up, delicately stepping off of the windowsill and into the open air. Smirking, she turned and offered Rapunzel a hand.

“Ruffians and thus are very unlikely to have means of following us into the sky, you know. Care for an adventure?”

Rapunzel looked away. “I don’t know. I love so many things here. I mean, this is my home, I can’t just--”

Jaina snorted. “Come on, you don’t seriously think we can roam around in these fancy clothes forever, do you? We’re going to have to come back at some point to change. I’m not kidnapping you.”

Rapunzel stood up, eyeing Jaina’s outstretched fingers. “I guess not.”

She had to admit, she was tempted.

“Home will still be there when you want to come back to it,” Jaina said. “But there’s a whole world out there to see, too. And I want to show you everything.”

Rapunzel smiled, and finally took Jaina’s hand. “You have me back by noon tomorrow, or I’m never letting you wear my dresses again.”

“Deal.”

They were lost to the night, and the tower was left empty.

***

Since Jack/Jaina was clearly on the poorer side as a human, I HC Jaina (and by extension Jack too lol) as being a bit (initially) uncomfortable with putting on formalwear, if only because her subconscious is kinda going “Is this allowed??? IS THIS ALLOWED???”

It was actually kinda hard thinking of a fancy dress with icy/winterey vibes that hasn’t already been claimed by Elsa’s outfit lineup D: GOD DAMN IT ELSA YOU DON’T GET A COPYRIGHT ON ICE DRESSES

Rapunzel and any iteration of Jack Frost bonding over how much they love to dance is just something that can be so personal ;____; I mean, Jack spent the intro to his movie spinning and leaping all over the place, and Rapunzel started a huge-ass dance in a town square, so like...am I wrong??? THESE FUCKERS LIKE DANCING

I feel like since Rapunzel grew up so sheltered, she’d be pretty naive when it came to differentiating between different types of love. Like someone tells her they love her romantically and she’s like “well of course we love each other!! We’re friends!!!” and...it takes a bit for her to realize that romantic love is a whole different Vibe sometimes XD The fact that girls romantically loving other girls is most likely not commonplace in 18wheneverthefuckTangledtakesplace definitely doES NOT HELP lol

Pic credits available upon request!

[dahniwitchoflight]

KHUX - Where’d they all go?

Alright so, first!

Who and what and where did everyone end up?

Maleficient: Took a pod to a specific point in the future, achieved this by also using her pet crow to force memories of her present self by having it fly her cloak to the great fairies and make them remember her

Ephemer: Brain from outside manages to send two pods back into the data Daybreak Town to rescue Ephemer and Skuld, (with the last Pod still in the Data meant for the Player, so all three could escape) Pops out of the pod to see the destroyed real Daybreak Town, goes back in with Skuld to escape the dying worldline along with the others, Gets flung forward in time just a tad from his own perspective to become the Founder of Scala Ad Caelum from the ruins of the destroyed Daybreak Town (Still doesn’t answer how or why he popped out in KH3 to help, but eh, guess that’s a question for Dark Road?)

Lauriam: Hops into one of three Pods in the real Daybreak Town to escape, Gets flung to present KH Times in a flower field from Snow White’s world, most likely proceeds to become a nobody some time later

Elrena: Hops into one of three Pods in the real Daybreak Town to escape, Gets flung to roughly the same time and place as Lauriam, but on the stormy mountain from the Witch’s area of Snow White’s world,  most likely proceeds to become a nobody some time later

Ventus: Hops into one of three Pods in the real Daybreak Town to escape, Ends up in the keyblade graveyard, roughly a few years before BBS and is found by Old Xehanort starting that story

Player: Tricks Ephemer into sealing them and the 4 darknesses into a piece of the Data Daybreak Town by pretending to have fallen to darkness, ends up dying from the 4 Darknesses, sacrificing themselves to save Ephemer and Skuld. In the realm between Death and Sleep, their dying heart then reincarnates eventually into a new young Heart (as they sometimes do), into that of newborn Young Xehanort, who is from Scala Ad Caelum in the time of Dark Road-ish, gets sent to Destiny Island’s by a mysterious old man who then dies, and then Young Xehanort begins his journey in Dark Road

Strelitzia: Her apparent Nobody gets sent to the future into the real world by Luxu, but it’s unknown where or when she ends up, last seen walking off in a white version of the Nobody Coat  (I suppose this is another question Dark Road will likely answer?)

Skuld: Brain from outside manages to send two pods back into the data daybreak town to rescue Emphemer and Skuld, Pops out of the pod to see the destroyed real Daybreak Town, goes back in with Ephemer to escape the dying worldline along with the others, We don’t find out her whereabouts, but the remaining theory is that she is Subject X from BBS, Lea and Isa’s friend with amnesia (I suppose this is another question Dark Road will likely answer?)

Rest of the Sleeping Dandelions/Fallen Keyblade Wielders: As their hearts fall asleep, the Chirithy that is bound to their hearts also takes on a sleeping form and become Dream Eaters, Spirit shaped by their wielders Dreams in order to protect them

Luxu: Last seen dragging along the box, holding the keyblade, and lifting up his hood to reveal that he looks exactly like Brain just without the hat

Brain: Gets flung forward roughly to the time of Dark Road-ish, last seen in Scala Ad Caelum that has been rebuilt for a while now by Ephemer the founder from a long time ago, just without his signature hat, and due to his conversation with a figure named Sigurd (who gives him his hat back), has likely fallen roughly into the times of KH Dark Road, and is perhaps a closer ancestor to Eraqus than first thought! maybe even a grandpa or great-grandpa

now the fun thing about Luxu and Brain and why they might look the same, cuz there’s a few options:

Is that before their final scenes, the 2nd last scene Luxu and Brain had was with eachother, right after Brain sent everyone on their merry way, Luxu pops up and says hey watcha doing, and Brain says he wants to stay behind to help free all the sleeping keyblade wielders, even if it takes him the rest of his life, and Luxu comments at him that it’d be a shame for him to waste his life like that or something to the effect before a fade to black

and the thing is, we don’t get to see their individual arrangements for how Both Luxu and Brain escape to the worldline along with the others. We just know that for sure he doesn’t stay and wake up the wielders, because all of their chirithy’s turn into the dream eaters. (And also that apparently he left his hat behind before he left as he picks it up in Scala when Sigurd gives it back to him)

And since there’s only one seemingly possible pod left to take, the one from the data world left for the Player (who never took it and instead dies), theres seem to be only one spot left on the ride out, and with Luxu’s body snatching tendencies, it seems to suggest that Luxu overtook Brain’s Heart and Body, grabbed the last pod from the data and adios’d

BUT the key here is in their apparent attitudes that we know this is likely not the case, and also the Hat, not only does it make it obviously clear who is who, the logistics of the Hat make it clear as well

In both cases, the boy who ends up in the graveyard with the box and the key, and the boy who appears in Scala, neither of them have Brain’s hat

But Brain IS last seen with his hat

If Luxu had overtaken Brain, there would be no reason for him to discard the hat, since the entire point of the body snatching is to be that person

Then, when Brain wakes up in Scala, Sigurd comes along and presents the hat saying “We’ve been waiting for you.” and Brain takes it back

Brain would neither remove his hat, nor would Luxu remove it if he had overtaken Brain

Instead, the likelier option is that Luxu forcibly put Brain into a pod and sent him to the future, saying it would be a shame if Brain were to die while Daybreak Town fell to darkness, because that’s what would’ve happened if Brain tried to stay behind

Where does that Leave Luxu though? How does he get back?

Well back in the data daybreak town, there are actually two Pods left, one meant for the Player who never used it, which Brain likely ended up taking, and a Destroyed Pod that got written off since who would know how to fix it?

Oh, Luxu would! And we know he does, because he specifically taunts Brain with that knowledge, asking him if he even knows how their supposed to work, And wouldn’t ya know, it’s in the Data Daybreak Town, meaning Luxu wouldn’t have even need to physically fix it, he could have easily reprogrammed it to be fixed from the computer side

So, two people, two pods, Luxu sends Brain on his merry way, in the scuffle because Brain would have resisted, the hat might’ve been removed, and Luxu could have easily set it up so that the hat could be preserved and in the future they would know to look and wait for Brain to appear

The only mystery remains then is why does Luxu looks like Brain?

appearances are tricky things in the KH series as well all know, and Luxu’s face has been hidden all this time, likely because his face would have been a spoiler or potentially confusing had it been shown from the beginning of KHX, not KHUX even

The one hint we have, is that in the Back Cover cinematic, which takes places during KHX, If you look closely, apparently you can see a shaggy lock of hair under his hood that matches Brain’s

which means Luxu has probably looked liked Brain all along from the start!

And before getting into the crazier reasons of why someone would look like someone else in the KH series (look at you Ventus/Roxas, Sora/Vanitas, Kairi/Namine/Xion) 

the one that makes the most sense to me personally, consideriong this fact, is that Luxu is a Replica of some sort, of Brain, made by the Master of Masters to fulfill a specific purpose for him, and considering Luxu’s purpose was easily the most important of MoM’s plans, and with how in his early appearances Luxu appears very withdrawn, shy, or dependant on MoM but also separate in some way from the rest of the 5 and with how we know that MoM has no qualms creating living things to do his bidding like the Chirithy’s, we know he’s aware of the replica technology at the very least since the pod system appears to be a workaround for this very issue of needing a medium for the flesh at the appropriate time and place

I think him being a replica with Brain’s appearance makes the most sense, Brain was certainly already on MoM’s radar as a special keyblade wielder, since he was one of the ones MoM chose to be a new union leader, and the way that Luxu’s appearance has always been hidden, how he always wore the black coat which in KH3 seems to be confirmed as what a “default” Replica body appears in when not in use, as we see when Riku Replica shunts out evil Repliku to have the body for Namine, it appears as a doll covered in the black coat

To me, I think it’s fitting, and I think that Luxu being comfortable with shunting from body to body and switching between forms is also part of that, his original form is a replica made to mimic another person, so why wouldn’t he continue that trend? Moving his heart from vessel to vessel, never getting attached to the flesh or identity itself? 

So yeah, I believe that Luxu taking over Brain is a red herring that KHUX ending presents, but I believe it will ultimately not be the case, and the rest of Dark Road/Verum Rex will go further into the reason why that is, with Luxu being a Replica of Brain from the very start coming out on top as the most likely series of events

[starlightbydaybright]

Bloom

Ace x Reader

They say love can be as fleeting as fireworks. Dazzling and bright one second, then extinguished by the darkness in the very next. But Ace wasn’t too sure if this feeling of his will dwindle as quickly as it came...

Year after year, it had always remained the same.

On that one special night in the middle of the summer heat, festivities would light up the decks of the Moby Dick. For what reason, no one was entirely sure, and when asked, a vague response would generally follow. Some says it’s to celebrate victory at some large fight years ago. Others claim it’s just their way of cooling down and relaxing from all the discomfort lingering in the air. Whatever it was, it didn’t really matter. At least not to Ace. What did matter, was that every year, your attitude towards the celebration remains the same. It seems as if you had a never ending plethora of excuses. One year, it’d be that you were feeling sick. Another, you’ll have a bunch of work to catch up on, even though none of the crew were given work a week prior. And sometimes, you’d just be already asleep, or at least that’s all Ace could tell from the dead silence coming from your locked room those nights.

But this year was going to be different, he vowed to himself. He was going to get you out of the room, one way or another, even if he’ll have to drag you by force. Now, Ace wasn’t completely heartless and ignorant to your needs. He knew you were shy and most definitely could not muster the confidence to mingle with the entire crew above deck. That’s why this year he took the time to plan out every single detail you could possibly use as an excuse to get away. Ace most definitely wasn’t a think-before-you-act person, so his efforts this time around was certainly commendable. Kicking out the newcomers that wanted to snag a seat in the crow’s nest, he secured a spot away from the crowds for you. Those newcomers could try again another year, plus, seniors first right?

When night fell and the jovial commotions only steadily increase, Ace couldn’t help the giddy look on his face as he headed towards your room. The majority of the crew were already above deck so the halls were unsurprisingly empty, making for a quicker trip to your cabin. Stopping outside your door, he knocked a few times, which was met with a muffled cry of surprise and followed immediately by a short sigh. The door opened slightly, and your face came into view.

“Ace...?” You questioned, a look of regret quickly dawning your face, realizing rather quickly what he was up to.

“S-sorry but I’m really not sure if I could attend this year either...” You apologetic tone was quickly cut off by Ace.

“I heard there would be fireworks this year. You always wanted to see those right?” He tried to contain his smirk when your eyes widen slightly in response.

That faint glitter in your eyes were gone as soon as it came, replaced by your typical anxious demeanor, “W-well... yes, b-but I don’t know... there’s just too much peop-“

Ace was quick to cut you off again, this time a grin clear on his face, “We got the crow’s nest all to ourselves tonight.”

While you were busy blinking in disbelief and asking how, Ace merely laughed and took the opportunity to grab you by the wrist and lead you through the hallway. Though your frantic, albeit quiet, calls for him to wait, he took the lack of resistance from your side as a sign to keep going. Eventually those were replaced with soft sighs of exasperation, to which Ace only smiled wider at.

The path to the crow nest was crowded with partying crew-mates before you two actually reached your destination. Settling down in the lookout, you yet again let out a sigh, though this time a sigh of relief, for getting through the mob.

“I’m not really sure if-“ Your uncertainty was gone in a flash and quite literally. Just as those words had left your mouth, a loud boom in the background had you turning to look behind you. The first round of fireworks had already begun, and the once pitch black sky was painted in streaks of nearly every color imaginable. Flowers of red, gold, green and blue blossomed in the sky before their lights were extinguished. Only to be replaced immediately with more and more fireworks that shoot in seemingly endless streams into the night.

Your breath caught in your throat, eyes wide in amazement. It’s not as if it’s some kind of once in a blue moon miracle, but fireworks were truly rare. Gunpowder usually went to the use of guns or cannons, so to actually use it for entertainment was a privilege of the wealthy or grandiose of a major holiday. You’ve read all about it in books and seen the photos, but nothing could compare to the real experience. None of the words could describe how the loud sounds would fade into background noises when your eyes are entranced. How the fireworks could brighten up the night sky and dull out even the brightest of the surrounding stars. The images and memory would be burned forever into your mind, that you were sure of. But even then, you didn’t want this to end.

Ace wasn’t looking at the fireworks, at least not completely. He could see them through the reflection in your eyes, but mainly he was staring at your wonderstruck expression. Just as you couldn’t stop looking at the blooming lights, Ace couldn’t tear his gaze off of your face. Your mouth slightly agape, but lifted at the corners to form a bright smile. Your wide eyes glistened in fascination, taking in everything you could. To him, you looked practically ethereal.

“Thank you...” Your voice caught him off guard.

It was Ace’s turn for his breath to get stuck in his throat when you turned to him with a beaming smile. The corners of your eyes crinkled in undeniable delight, and a smile stretched across your face. The new fireworks bursting into light behind you only served to emphasize your features, with warm hues of red, orange, and yellow dancing across your skin. But most important of all, was that your smile was aimed at him. He wondered to himself if the soft tint of pink on your cheeks was due to the lights, or if he had imagined it. Or perhaps...

Did Ace called you shy before? He wasn’t too sure of that right now. As you turned back to looking at the never ending fireworks, he finally managed to turn his head away, in an attempt to cover his burning cheeks. And it most certainly wasn’t due to the summer heat.

How do you make dividers- I’m literally so nervous since it’s my first time publishing, now time to find a way to delete my account and disappear off the face of earth forever :’)

This is for @tooweirdforyou and their Summer Collab event. Hopefully I did this right since I feel like I didn’t include much summer theme except the fireworks and simply mentioning that it’s the middle of summer 😞

If there’s any confusion about (Y/n) and Ace’s relationship, they’re kinda like close friends on the ship. Whether or not there’s any secret mutual pining... that I’ll leave up to your imagination 😊

Also, please excuse any ooc-ness of Ace in the story, I love him as a character, but my inability to write meant I couldn’t do him justice 🥲 rereads for the hundredth time and cringes at all the smirking and grinning I wrote